Moving On
by IceMaize
Summary: Team Natsu replaced Lucy with Lisanna. With Lisanna's return, the guild members doesn't notice Lucy that much anymore and she started going on missions alone. Five months has passed and she insists on doing solo. Will a certain someone, with the help of Lucy's friends, be able to convince her to get a partner? Or even a team?
1. Moving On

Note : Hey. This is my first Fairy Tail fanfic. I hope it isn't too OOC. Hadn't really watched it in a long time but I recently caught up with the manga. There's not really much plot here. I just felt like writing this. I'm not really sure whether it would turn out a story or just a random one-shot, two-shot, whatever you call it. If anyone has ideas, PM me. I'll consider I guess. It's only if there's no plot still, alright? (No NaLu. I prefer looking at them acting buddy buddy, I like their friendship and how people misunderstand that alright?) Enjoy. (Ain't really interesting. Later in the chapters will meet other mages.)

* * *

She stood in front of the guild doors and said softly, "I'm back."

She entered, making her way to her usual spot and sat down.

"Mira-san."

The barmaid seemed to not have noticed her friend and didn't attend. Lucy expected this and now that it's been going for months, she was actually kind of _used _to it. Though it did hurt her still, it didn't hurt as much as it did in the earlier moths. She repeated her name louder which caught the barmaid's attention.

"Oh, Lucy! What can I do for you?" The barmaid said, giving her usual gentle smile.

"A glass of water sounds good."

Receiving her glass of water, she takes a sip and rests her head onto the palm of her other free hand, her other still holding the glass of water. It was as noisy as ever, that didn't change.

She had been going on solo missions since Lisanna's 'revival' for 5 months. She was actually getting hard being noticed by everyone. Well, not everyone. The only ones who actually noticed her were Mirajane (sometimes),Wendy, Charle, Levy, Gajeel, Juvia and Master.

She resisted a sigh and thought back. When Lisanna came back, everyone was happy. Well, she didn't blame them for that. She, too, would have felt happy for a returning long-lost friend but that wasn't Lisanna. Sure, they caught up to get to know a bit of each other but that was the end. They were more of like acquaintances. Lisanna was cute, gentle, caring, pretty. Lucy had no grudge against her after everything. Her, now former, team was spending everyday with Lisanna until they literally forgot about Lucy.

Sometimes Happy would stay the night at her place, she didn't mind. Having a company was good once in a while. Happy would always come just in time for dinner, he would always talk about missions that they did with Lisanna and then they would always make a joke for each mission.

She smiled and took a quick glance at her former team. Gray and Natsu were throwing insults at each other like usual. Lisanna was talking to Happy and Erza, who was eating cake, allowing Natsu and Gray to fight.

She knew her former team well enough to know that they'll be fine. At least with one sane person in the team. Her memories started flooding in.

2 months after Lisanna's return, when they were getting to know each other at the bar, the whole team came.

* * *

"_Lucy!" Natsu approached the two with his toothy grin._

_Lucy smiled in response._

_Putting an arm over Lisanna's shoulder, he said, "Um, actually we've been wondering whether Lisanna could take your place. I mean, you have been going for solo missions a lot these days and we all want to spend more time with her!"_

"_Yeah. This way you can get your rent money without trouble. Stupid flame head here always destroys stuffs and we end up getting lesser money-"_

_And they start bickering again._

"_You can get stronger faster this way, Lucy." Erza said._

_Lucy was shocked. To think that her team was actually replacing her with Lisanna was the first thing they said after 2 months of not talking or spending time with her. She looked to Lisanna and from the looks on her face, she could tell that they didn't tell her._

"_Wha-"_

"_Sure! It's fine!" Lucy said with a forced smile, interrupting what Lisanna was going to say._

"_Yes! Thanks Luce! Happy! Let's go pick a mission!"Natsu said, the others following._

_Lucy grabbed Lisanna's wrist to prevent her from going. _

"_It isn't your fault. Just make sure they don't get in too much trouble!" Lucy said with a smile, letting her go._

"_But," Lisanna said. "You're their teammate. They can't just replace you-"_

"_It's their choice. And, this is a chance for me to get stronger too. Anyways, you and Natsu will have a lot of fun together," Lucy said with a teasing smile and Lisanna blushed._

"_C'mon. Tell him! I know he feels the same way," Lucy waved her hand at her as she left for home. _

_She headed home, head held high. Her heart hurt with every step she slowly took. She wasn't going to cry and she didn't want to. She doesn't really want to show up at the guild with red and swollen eyes._

* * *

To say that she didn't cry at all was a lie. Almost every night, a tear would drop before she quickly wipe it away and head for bed. Her friends did comfort her, Wendy, Juvia, Levy and the others.

_I should stop moping and take another job._

She walked to the request board and picked one, which was to her standard, not so easy but isn't too hard either.

She had to defeat monsters in the forest nearby a town.

"Mira-san, I'm taking this."

Mirajane read it and said, "Are you sure? It's dangerous to go alone! You should at least go with-"

"Just let her go," Master said. "She's been going on jobs more dangerous than that like taking out a mini self-proclaimed dark guild."

"O-Oh, sure, have a safe trip, Lucy," Mirajane was hesitant but if the Master said so, then it would be fine.

Lucy had their back turned to them. She lifted her hand and shook it a little, signalling that she hear her. She said aloud, "I'm going." _Not that anyone would care if you leave, Lucy. Ah. There's still Levy and others though._

* * *

Arriving at the train station with her small backpack, she was sure this job would only take a few days. She entered the train and sat by the window. The sun was starting to rise. Looking back she wondered whether she changed.

She, indeed, had gotten stronger thanks to the solo missions. She could summon four spirits at a time, but if she did, she would be completely dry after that which made her pass out so summoning four spirits was a big no-no. She stuck to summoning two, her spirits were strong so another wouldn't be needed.

She was confident in herself. Sometimes if a job done was near Magnolia, she would go through the forest instead of using the train. She wanted to get stronger, so she didn't want to care about getting her clothes dirty and all. She wouldn't train in Magnolia, for her, it was a place to relax. She would run laps around the inn and if she had the time, she would call her spirit, Loke, to train melee combat with her which she was (according to him), improving slowly.

Yes, she was improving slowly but it was still improving. Better than not.

* * *

Once arriving at the town, she met up with the client along with Loke who came to keep her company.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail. I came for the job."

"And I am Loke, her handsome boyfriend."

"My, my. What a cute couple," the client said.

"W-we are NOT a couple! He just acts like this," Lucy said, blushing a little.

The old man chuckled and said, "Anyways, please help with the job as soon as possible. And, if you don't mind, last night, a child went missing."

"That's so unfortunate..."

"Yes... I was wondering whether you would help find her. You see, this girl always goes to the forest even though she knew they were those vicious beasts out there."

"What does she look like?" Loke asked.

"She's about 6 year old. Has shoulder length hair which is light blue and has black eyes. She always wears a T-shirt and knee length pants. Please...find her."

"Don't worry! We'll find her!" Lucy said, the old man's hand sandwiched between hers.

He nodded and led them out. "If you keep walking straight, you'll see the inn by your right soon."

"Thank you."


	2. (First) Mission Part 1

Note : Hey. It isn't really interesting but voila. Here you go. This story is gonna go slow, in my opinion. And, if I ever ever lose the inspiration for this story, I will try to end it in the best way I can.I hope you enjoy it. I'm gonna go start write chapter 3 now. I hope you enjoy this. Thanks for reading!

* * *

After checking in a room at the inn for two nights, she thought that she should force gate closure so that she wouldn't run out of magic in the middle of the fight.

"Loke, I'll call you again later, okay?"

"Anything you say, princess," he said, slightly bowing down.

"I'll see you later. Force gate closure!"

They both smiled at each other as Loke left for the spirit world.

_I guess I should get lunch now. Then off to the forest to defeat those things and save a little girl!_

She threw her fist in the air with a smile. After she finishes her job, she could spend the money on clothes. Now that she her rent for the month was safe, she could spoil herself for the rest of the month!

On the way to the cafe, she looked around and spotted some clothes shop to her liking. She made a mental note to visit the shop tomorrow, when everything was done.

Once she was done eating her lunch, she decided to enter the forest. It was shady thanks to the trees.

* * *

After a while of walking, she heard a growling echo from her left. Responding quickly, she took cover behind a tree with a back facing it. After a few moments, she looked behind and she noticed a cave metres from her position.

She said softly, "Loke."

"At your service, princess."

"There's a cave over there where I heard some growling," she said, still locking her gaze on the cave.

"There should be a few monsters inside, we can handle it together easily."

"Look! There's someone over there!" Lucy said.

"Who is it?"

"It should be the missing girl."

"Oh no. Don't tell me she-"

Lucy was interrupted by a scream. Immediately, they rushed in the cave. Loke was using his power to light the area while Lucy was holding onto her whip which was already glowing with magic. When they entered, they spotted the girl on the ground, passed out.

"Virgo!"

"Is it time for punishment, princess?"

"Er, no. Get the girl outside and make sure she's safe!"

"Yes, princess," she said, slightly bowing down before carrying the girl out of the cave.

Lucy and Loke stood side by side, looking at their 3 targets.

"What in the world are these?" Lucy asked, shocked.

_(A/N : I'm gonna leave the appearance to your imagination.)_

"I don't know but they sure are ugly. I'll handle the two. You handle the other."

"Roger that!" Lucy said, getting in battle stance.

* * *

_(A/N : Ain't that good in fighting scenes. Loke is a combat specialist so I won't be writing anything about his fight. You can imagine it already.)_

Lucy quickly expanded her whip and circled it around the monster's neck. She tightened her grip on the holder of her whip and pulled it back, bringing the monster her way involuntarily. Using her other hand, she punched it as hard as she could. The monster was pushed back but quickly regained balance. It lunged itself towards Lucy, attempting to cut her with its claws.

Lucy quickly dodged it but received a cut from the back of her wrist reaching her elbow.

Ignoring the pain, she took the chance of the split-second of the monster's failed attack, she gathered her strength in her hand and punch it's face with all she could. Thankfully, the monster collided with the hard walk of the cave and passed out.

"Ouch!" She shouted as she felt pain on her leg.

She looked over to see the other monster on the floor, passed out.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy. Are you alright?" Loke asked as he examined the injury on Lucy's leg.

"It's okay. I'm fine! See! It's only a few cuts!" Lucy said, smiling.

"No, you're not. I'll ask Virgo to bandage you up."

Loke carried her bridal style out of the cave and stopped when she saw Virgo and the little girl.

"Virgo. Can you treat her injuries? Her right hand and left leg."

Virgo nodded and immediately tended to Lucy's wound. While Lucy was being treated, she would wince a little at the pain when bandaged.

"So, why are you wandering in the forest when they're monsters? It's dangerous you know!" Lucy lightly scolded.

"I-I'm sorry!" The girl said.

Lucy sighed and said, "It's fine. At least you're okay. What's your name? I'm Lucy."

"Yuki."

"So, why were you in the forest when you know that they are monsters?"

"A-actually, I accidentally fell asleep on a tree...Then, when I woke up, it was dark...And I couldn't find my way back...So I just settled down on a tree and then this happened..." Yuki said, fiddling with her fingers.

_What kind of kid goes around sleeping in forests?_

"Anyways, we should get you back," Lucy said. "People are worried about you."

Yuki nodded and they all started walking back to the town with Yuki's hand holding Lucy's.

"Then, princess, I will be taking my leave now."

"Yea. I'll see you soon, Virgo," Lucy said, smiling and waving. "You, too, Loke."

"Er...Lucy-neechan?" Yuki asked as she pulled her hand a little.

"Yes?" She said, smiling.

"Can you... Do you want me to show you around town?" Yuki said, looking at her feet.

Lucy chuckled and said, "Sure. How about tomorrow?"

Yuuki smiled as big as she could and she hugged Lucy around the waist.

* * *

"Thank you so much, Lucy-san!"

"I don't know what we would have done without you!"

Yuki's parents thanked her endlessly until the client saved her and requested to talk to her privately. Lucy waved to Yuki and her parents and said that she'll see her again tomorrow at the inn.

"This is the reward. Thank you for defeating those monsters."

"You're welcome!"

"I see that you're getting along with Yuki well. Has she…told you about her condition?"

"No. What condition?"

"You see..."

* * *

After dinner, Lucy went to a bar. There were only a few people drinking and a few passed out on the floor. She sat down at the counter and ordered a beer.

After Lisanna's return, sometimes she would drink till she pass out in a random bar and Virgo would pop up and bring her home. She did this quite a lot of times and thanks to that, she was quite a drinker now. At least she wouldn't pass out from the first four cups. She could even drink 2 bottles and not get drunk! She wasn't really into drinking, but she thought it might be useful to at least be a good drinker now that she was going solo. It was also easier to capture targets when all she needs to do was pretend to be drunk.

_Good drinker + Looks + Acting skills = Good combo_

"I feel bad for Yuki," she said while taking a sip of her beer.

* * *

"_..You see... She has a medical condition. It was unidentified at first and she kept coughing black blood. Because of that, every parent told their kids to stay away from her. Soon, after a few weeks, the doctor managed to identify her sickness and cure it. But, no one else ever got close to her since..."_

"_Why? I mean, she's healthy right now. Why won't anyone talk to her?"_

"_Well, the parents just told them not to go close to her. They were scared that they would get caught by her sickness if it happened again."_

"_I don't understand. You don't treat people like that!" Lucy said standing up._

"_Yes. In fact, I don't either and I agree with you. But, parents always put their children's priority first. I guess you know where I'm going?"_

"_Oh.. Well, I guess that's somehow understanding..." She said while slumping back onto the couch._

"_This is why I always spend time with her whenever I can... Please. Can you spend time with her? I haven't really got time these days and her parents are working more in order to afford her medication. They're still in debt actually..."_

"_Sure! You can count on me! So, don't worry!" Lucy said, smiling._

* * *

"Another one, miss?" The bartender asked while taking away her empty glass.

"No thanks," she said while leaving.

* * *

When she reached the inn, she spent an hour watching television. After that she changed into a singlet, which was sewn with a hood, that she always used when running laps and a comfortable mid-thigh pants.

Once she exited the inn, she put on her hoodie and started running around the inn.

Suddenly, she fell down to the ground. When she tried to stand up, she felt pain in her leg. She looked at her leg and saw blood staining her bandages.

"Princess."

"Kyaaa!" Aaand she fell butt first to the ground. "Do not do that again." She said while placing her hand over her heart.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, princess."

_Bully._

Virgo carried Lucy back to the inn and went back to the celestial world while Lucy took a quick shower. After a while, Virgo appeared again and said that she wanted to treat Lucy's wound.

After treating the cut on her hand, she proceeded to do the one on her leg.

When Lucy looked at her leg, she saw three diagonal cuts from her knee going down.

"Can I take it off tomorrow, Virgo?"

"I think you should take it off after touring the town. By then, it shouldn't be bleeding already," Virgo said, still bandaging it up.

"Then, princess, I shall take my leave. Please sleep early. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

_A long day..? Oh.. Yuki's showing me the town tomorrow._

She made her way to the bed and fell fast asleep.

* * *

A/N (Review) : Hey. Thanks for the reviews! Actually, I know they're some people who likes Lisanna and actually I don't want anyone to get the feeling of having your favourite character get all the hatred. I don't really like writing a story where nakamas hate each other.

She's going to meet Sabertooth soon, don't worry. Haha.

Anyways, this story is around the time after GMG with Fairy Tail winning first. So, only Lucy vs Flare and Lucy vs Minerva and then she doesn't fight anyone else. Actually, I bumped onto a block when deciding the time the story is held. But I want her to meet the Sabertooth members so can we just forget the complicated details? If it's okay then she'll meet Sabertooth, I guess.

Haha! I wasn't even planning to touch dragons at all! It's wayyyy too complicated for me to handle and yea. I feel the same. I don't really want her to be a dragon slayer either. I can't really imagine her being in action like Natsu or whoever. Everytime I try to, it's just… wrong? It's like I'm seeing Natsu's soul in Lucy. It's killing my brain here. IF this has offended anyone, sorry!

One question : Should Sting and Rogue join Fairy Tail? Just leave a review. I ain't gonna do a poll.


	3. (First) Mission Part 2 and Red-Head

Note : Please PM me your thoughts or just leave a review about Sting and Rogue joining Fairy Tail. Everyone, thank you for reviewing, it means a lot to me. So, thanks. You know, because of what happened at Tenrou Island, everyone is 7 years older right? So, Lucy is 24? Or do you guys want me to just say she's 17? Please enjoy and leave a review!

* * *

Lucy woke up and headed to the bathroom to shower. Enjoying the warm water running down her body, she made sure there wasn't any soap residue on her body. She put on a white T-shirt and mid-thigh shorts. As she exited the bathroom, she was greeted by Virgo who tended to her wounds. Today, she felt less pain than yesterday. Then she realized,she was probably going to have scars.

'_I don't want scars…'_

Virgo noticed the look on Lucy's face when she looked at her wound on her leg.

"It's alright, princess. The wound isn't so deep so the scars wouldn't be very obvious after a few weeks unless someone looks at it up-close," she said, not taking her eyes away from the bandaging process she was doing.

Lucy nodded absent-mindedly, wondering if anyone else in the guild would even Virgo finished tending to Lucy's wounds, she left, leaving Lucy alone. It was quiet and peaceful. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't lonely. Who wouldn't feel like that after being part of a team of people who were awfully noisy and people who tends to destroy things.

Months ago, she'd thought she might never get used to the quiet atmosphere but here she was. _Used to it already_. She couldn't believe it herself. But she knew. The boisterous group wasn't going to come back anytime soon. She didn't blame them and wasn't going to.

Just then, she heard a knock and heard Yuki calling out her name from behind the wooden mahogany door.

"Lucy-neechan?"

"Yuki!" Lucy said and hugged her once she opened the door.

Lucy broke the hug when and laughed when she heard Yuki's stomach growl for hunger. So, they decided to eat lunch first before going around the way to the restaurant, they held hands which earned quite a few stares from people who were passing by them.

"Lucy-neechan," Yuki said looking up to her.

"What is it, Yuki?" Lucy said, smiling.

"What kind of magic do you use?"

"Celestial magic. I call out spirits and we fight together."

Even though they were talking, Lucy could hear a few people whispering to each other about some blondie who lost to another guild and was tortured by Sabertooth. Of course, she knew they were talking about her but she just brushed it off. It was kind of normal for her actually.

Thinking positively (sarcastically), she had a new 'title', the blondie who was tortured by Sabertooth. Yay! Oh, did she appreciate it a lot.

_(A/N : I just had to put the sarcastic part. It's just so Lucy, isn't it?)_

All her solo missions were the same, blondie this, blondie that. Still, she didn't care. At least Flare did apologize and it wasn't worth being angry for anyways because she knew she would have won if Flare's teammate didn't help. But, she still told them off a bit…mentally.

_Rude. I have ears, you know?_

They entered the restaurant and ordered some food. Yuki was very interested in hearing about celestial magic because it was her first time learning about celestial magic. She always read books, due to her condition and the book eventually led to magic. But she never bothered to read books that were connected to celestial magic because she thought that the holder was depending solely on her spirits. When the food came, Lucy continued to explain about her magic, eating bit by bit from time to time.

"The stronger you are, physically and mentally, the stronger your spirits are. Your magic power affects how long you can summon them and their strength. That's why, the owner's magic power and strength is important as well."

Sometimes Yuki would interrupt her with a question and then Lucy would go back to explaining again. After that, Yuki brought Lucy to her favorite bakery shop. Yuki talked about how the baker-san was very kind and made a big cake for her when it was her birthday. Then, they started talking about Erza.

"She loves strawberry shortcakes! If anyone destroys her precious cake, accident or not, they'll get hurt," Lucy laughed before continuing. "Very, very hurt."

"Erza-neechan sounds scary!" Yuki said, with a scared face.

"She isn't! I mean, not always! She likes sweet things and cute clothes too! And I'm not too sure about this but… I feel like sometimes she's afraid that she might hurt other people's feelings unintentionally."

"Why?"

"She's kind of bad at making friends since people thinks that she's scary… So, I guess she's had a little experience?" Lucy paused before continuing. "But she's a normal person like us, she's kind, caring, passionate and strong."

"What does she look like?"

"She has brown eyesand long, beautiful scarlet hair. But people usually refer her hair as red."

"Scarlet hair…" Yuki's eyes shone with amazement, imagining Erza.

Lucy chuckled and said, "When you grow up, you should come to Fairy Tail! I'm sure you'll like everyone there."

They went to a few clothes shop where Lucy bought some clothes for herself and Yuki. Lucy bought a white sleeveless blouse, a dark green T-shirt and a few knee-length pants. She also bought Yuki a white and yellow one-piece dress. Then, they went to different shops and bought many things. Lucy bought some sketching tools and a few more accessories. Sometimes, Yuki would stare at some items and Lucy noticed this and bought whatever item that Yuki liked. She bought a necklace, bracelets, toys and more.

It was already evening and they went to eat dinner together, this time at a different restaurant. Yuki felt happy. She felt like Lucy was her big sister and she loved her. She decided to meet her when she was old enough and follow in her footsteps and join Fairy Tail. She would always ask Lucy about her guildmates, their adventures, and almost everything. She wanted to spend more time with her, talk to her like how sisters would and wanted to be like , caring, understanding.

"…And he has a weird habit of taking off his clothes anytime anywhere," Lucy laughed. "He never even notices it until someone tells him!"

"Gray-nicchan is weird."

"Yes he is," Lucy said while nodding. "But I like his magic. He's an ice mage."

"Cool! Ice magic is so pretty and shiny and cool!"

"You really like ice magic, don't you?"

Lucy smiled when Yuki nodded her head with her sparkling eyes.

"You know, he's always picking a fight with Natsu. Even though they argue and fight so much with each other, they deeply care for each other."

* * *

They talked and talked and talked until it was quite late and Yuki's parents would be worried so Lucy told Yuki she was going back to the inn.

"Hey, why the long face?" Lucy said, crouching down so that they were eye-to-eye level.

"Because…"

"Don't worry! I'm only leaving tomorrow evening! We still have another day to hang out tomorrow!" Lucy said, with a smile, holding both of her hands with Yuki's.

Yuki immediately smiled and nodded vigorously, excited for the day to come.

"So, get plenty of rest, kay?" Lucy said, walking away after ruffling Yuki's hair.

"Bye-bye! Lucy-neechan!" Yuki said, waving.

Lucy smiled at her and waved back.

* * *

The next day was fun. Yuki brought Lucy deep into the forest where there was her self-proclaimed cave and a beautiful waterfall nearby. The waterfall was so beautiful and with the sunlight shining on it, Lucy was reminded of her training ground in Magnolia's forest area. Yuki's cave made her smile,the entrance was decorated nicely with rocks on top of rocks and veins covering the entrance. The veins weren't just veins but they had seashells attached onto them and flowers too. Lucy complimented how beautifully Yuki decorated the cave. When they went in, Lucy was amazed. There were 2 chairs suitable for 2 adults and 1 small chair, just nice for a child. It was made of wood, tied together using strings.

"Wow," Lucy said, amazed. "Did you make this yourself?"

"No," Yuki said while sitting down on the chair. "I made the front part of the cave myself but mama and papa helped me with the chairs."

Lucy sat down on one of the chairs and it felt unbelievably _comfortable. _

"It's really comfortable right?"

Yuki then told Lucy that the cave was like a second home for her, although there were only chairs there. She said that her parents said that they would build more stuffs together like a table, bookshelf.

"But isn't it dangerous? I mean we ARE in a forest. Aren't you worried that the wild animals might attack you?" Lucy said with full of concern.

"It's okay! Mama and papa said that they'll build a fence and a gate so that animals can't enter the cave easily. Then they'll make a bed! It'll be like a real home! But with low security and woods. Lots of woods," Yuki said.

After they left, Lucy prayed silently that she wouldn't forget this beautiful place and cave. Maybe she should decorate the cave nearby her training ground. It will give her a place to rest and if the cave was by the river, she would have one beautiful view.

After visiting the waterfall and cave, Yuki brought Lucy to a bookshop. Lucy was so happy and hugged Yuki while thanking her. She bought a few books and then they went walked around the town area which Yuki didn't get to show Lucy the day before.

* * *

The day went by fast and it was time for Lucy to head to the train station. Yuki decided to accompany Lucy to the train station as she knew she wouldn't be able to see her again in a long time. Yuki was trying her best not too cry but she couldn't fight back the tears and cried. She was on the ground when she felt arms wrapped around her. She looked up. Lucy was hugging her. Never in her life has she ever received this kind of affection from anyone else other than elderly people and her parents. The hug from Lucy she was receiving now felt somewhat different.

"Listen, Yuki," Lucy said, tightening her hug. "You're not alone. People are never alone. With people who care and love you, you're not alone."

Yuki was speechless and Lucy continued, "You have your parents, the old man and many more!"

Lucy broke from the hug and looked at Yuki in the eye. "Make friends, Yuki. If you don't today, then tomorrow! If not tomorrow then the day after! You MUST NOT give up!"

Yuki rubbed her tears away from her eyes and nods with determination in her eyes.

"I promise! I'll make friends!" Yuki said.

Lucy entered the train and chose to sit by the window, her favourite seat.

"Thank you Lucy-neechan! I'll meet up with you one day!" Lucy brought her head out of the train window and waved back at her, "We'll see each other again Yuki!"

* * *

"Attention all passengers. Please take a seat as we are departing from Felitsa Town soon. We will reach Magnolia in five hours from now. Thank you very much," the train manager said as she sat back down.

_I wonder if I'll see Yuki again. Wow. She'd look so pretty once she grows up._

…_I feel like I'm acting as her mother. Wow, Lucy. Wow. A mother._

She was interrupted when a stranger asked her whether the seat opposite hers was occupied.

"No, it isn't," she said, not averting her gaze from the window.

She heard the man settle down and the train started moving. Lucy paid no attention to the person and continued to look outside the window. The town was getting further and further and so was Yuki. Lucy looked away from the window, pushing away the feeling of leaving her new friend.

Then, she looked to the person sitting diagonally opposite her. He had messy dark red hair and he was wearing a black leather jacket with a white shirt underneath along with black jeans. His appearance piqued her interest. He was sleeping, much to Lucy's dismay as she wanted to know what eye color he had. He had his hands in his pockets and a backpack sitting next to him.

_Only a few minutes have passed since it departed and he's already asleep._

Lucy sighed softly. She wasn't in the mood to sleep, she wasn't even tired at all! She lifted up her hand and stared at it, reminding herself to take off the bandages once she reached home. A few moments passed and she was getting more bored by the second. Looking around for some kind of entertainment, she looked at the sleeping red-head. She opened her suitcase and took out a piece of paper and a book. She lay the book on her lap with the blank paper on top of it. Then, she took out her sketching tools and started drawing the figure that was sleeping.

Although she didn't look like it, she's very good in drawing. This was the results of all the lessons her father instructed her to take when she was still 'Lucky Lucy' of Heartfilia. Vocal lessons, Art lessons and more. Even though she used to hate it, she did it. She'd do anything to earn acknowledgement from her father, even if she had to do something she didn't want to. But, all those years, after everything she did, he still never acknowledged her. She didn't want to be a controlled doll for the rest of her life, she grew sick of it. She ran away.

Minutes turned to hours as time passed and she was almost done with her work. As she held her art work in front of her once she was done with the touch-ups, she made a mental note to store it properly back at her place. She placed the drawing in her suitcase and realized it was raining. She stared outside the window. The rain reminded her of Juvia and it brought a smile to her face.

"Attention all passengers. We will be reaching Magnolia in a few minutes."

_Did I really use five hours just to draw him? _

She had to admit, using five hours to draw someone wasn't something she was going to be proud of. She let out a small sigh. In another minute or two, the train stopped and they were at Magnolia. She didn't move from her seat and stared at the sleeping red-head.

_Should I wake him?_

That was on her head. It was the last stop of the train and if she didn't wake him up, who knows where he'll be in the morning if he never gets up. She sighed for what have felt like a millionth time and walked towards the red-head to wake him up.

With her suitcase held in her left hand, she placed her right hand on the man's shoulders and gently shook him. When it didn't work, she shook harder which made the man awake but he still didn't open his eyes.

He muttered with his eyes closed, "…five more minutes…"

Lucy giggled and the red-head's eye fluttered open almost immediately. The red-head stared at Lucy's big brown eyes with his orange eyes, wondering who she is. He was thinking how beautiful she is, like an angel with her beautiful blonde hair and innocent, big brown eyes. And Lucy was thinking how beautiful his orange eyes were.

After a moment of staring at each other, Lucy snapped back into reality and said, "We're already at Magnolia."

The man stared at her as she left. He kept on thinking how he could have missed a beauty like her when she was right next to him the whole time. Sure, he saw her when he took a seat but he didn't really get to see her face because she was looking outside the window. _Damn._

He realized something and quickly stood up. The moment he saw Lucy, he shouted, "THANK YOU!"

Lucy was on the way out before she turned to look at the red-head who shouted. She blurted out without thinking while tilting her head to the side, "…for what?"

The red-head blushed a little, but it wasn't seen by Lucy thanks to the darkness of the night. "For… er, waking me up?"

Lucy giggled a little and said, "No problem!"

She got out of the train and when the red-head got out after taking his backpack, he couldn't find the beautiful blonde. _Damn, she's so cute. _He scratched the back of his hand and left the train station while carrying his backpack. _I wonder whether I'll see her again._

* * *

Lucy entered her room and unpacked her suitcase. After that, she took out her bandages. It wasn't bleeding anymore and the tissues had already started to join back together. It didn't hurt any more so she took a shower after throwing the bandages away. She took a shower instead of soaking herself in the tub. While taking a shower, she was having thoughts of the red-head she saw at the train. She admit. He was pretty cute, especially how he thanked her. He looked pretty much her age which made Lucy wonder whether they were the same age. After drying herself with the towel, she looked at her bed. She had placed her drawing of the red-head on top of her bed.

_Hmmm… Where should I keep it?_

She bumped her fist into the palm of her other hand when she remembered something. She has a desk with many drawers and a few of them are empty! She could keep her drawing there and at least reduce the chance of it being stolen or destroyed. She happily took the drawing from the bed and carefully placed it inside the drawer.

Happy that her drawing is safe, she jumped into bed and pulled the blanket over her shoulders as she shifted her sleeping position. She didn't feel sleepy at all and with her mind refreshed from meeting the red-head, she was wide awake.

_Maybe I should go around town tomorrow instead of always staying in the guild. Yea. I'll do just that._

Slowly, which she felt like forever, she fell asleep.


	4. Back In Magnolia

Note : I see that a lot of people likes Red-head here huh? Don't worry. You'll get to meet him soon, but not too soon! This is my first romance story so maybe you'll find it a little... weird? Yea. Weird. For now, I won't say anything about the pairings. It might change as the story goes. But, you can leave your thoughts in the reviews, I'm all ears to whatever you want to say, even if it has nothing to do with this. That's all. Enjoy.

* * *

Lucy had her back facing the bed and she was staring at the ceiling. She had been awake for quite a long time now but she didn't bother to get up and just stared at the ceiling. After a few moments, she suddenly felt the emptiness of her stomach and it felt really _really _empty.

She moved to the side and placed one hand over her stomach before muttering, "…hungry."

She looked at her clock. _Wow. It's nearly noon. I slept that long?_

She didn't feel like cooking so she decided to eat lunch around town after showering. She soaked herself into the warm water and relaxed. After a few moments, her stomach gave out a soft growl. She sighed and got out of the water to dry herself. She wore her dark green T-shirt and knee-length pants which she recently bought. After equipping her whip and keys onto her belt, just to make sure, she checked her drawer where the drawing was kept. After making sure it was safe, she closed it and proceeded to tie her hair into a high ponytail with a few strands of hair left hanging.

After that, she got down the stairs and exited the building. There were a few people walking around and some people were riding boats. She looked up with closed eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she walked for a bit until she was finally out of the residential area and soon, she reached the market area. There were so many people buying groceries around the wet market area, Lucy made a mental note to buy fishes and groceries later. She looked away from the market and her gaze fell onto a restaurant. She headed to the restaurant and sat down at a table for two. She ordered her food and after a few moments it arrived. It reminded her of the time she spent with Yuki, even thought it was short. How Yuki's eyes would shine in admiration when she told her their adventures. It brought a smile to her face and suddenly something said in her mind.

_Lucy. You look creepy when you smile like that you know?_

Immediately, her smile disappeared. Damn, did she want to punch that cat so badly. She refrained herself from punching the table. Who knows whether it might break and she'd have to pay for it with her precious money. After finishing her food, she got up and went to the wet-market area. There were less people now but it was still crowded.

"Oh? Isn't it Lucy-chan?" An old grandmother asked.

"Eh? Oh! Hikari-obasan!" Lucy said.

"You haven't been coming to buy from me these few weeks!"

"Sorry, sorry. I was busy with missions," Lucy laughed. "Hikari-obasan, will you give me a good price?"

She laughed and said, "I'll give you these five fresh fishes for 350 jewels, my dear."

"Ehhh? How about 250?" Lucy said, giving her best puppy eyes.

The old grandmother just smiled and shook her head. Lucy sighed, "Never in my life will I ever be able to change your price. Here."

They exchanged fishes and jewels and Lucy continued to buy other types of meat. All the way, she was greeted by the sellers she didn't see for a few weeks. She had been on solo missions and spent only a few days in Magnolia. She felt happy that almost everyone had actually wondered where she had been the past few weeks. She felt like family.

"Lucy-chan's here! Where were you these past few weeks? We were starting to get worried y'know?" A middle-aged man said.

"Busy with missions lately, Lucy?" A middle-aged woman said.

"I've got some good stock for you, Lucy!"

She bought a decent amount of groceries and thanks to her good relationship with the people selling there, she had quite a decent price.

"Bye! I'll come buy from you again soon!"

"Wait, Lucy!" A middle-aged man said.

"What is it, Toto-ojisan?" Lucy said, turning to face him.

"Actually, we're going to Kitsuna's party to celebrate the birth of her newborn child and-"

"Ehh? I'll go! I'll go! When is it?" Lucy said, her hand clasped together and eyes shining.

Lucy's excited behavior cause the old man to laugh. "In two days. It's going to be held at her place. You know where it is right?"

Lucy nodded and said excitedly, "I'll see you there in two days! Thanks!"

He looked at her and smiled. _She's a good kid._

* * *

Now that she finished buying her groceries, she decided to stop by a café for a drink. She decided to walk to her favourite café which was quite far from the market but she had the time so, why not? She didn't want to carry all her groceries the whole day too and she'd pass by her apartment on the way so she could leave her groceries at home before heading to the café. She reached her apartment after ten minutes of walking and left her groceries there. After that, she continued making her way towards the café. As she continued walking, the number of people around lessened. There weren't many people around and she took her time walking to the café.

She went inside and seeing that the inside of the café was full, she reluctantly sat outside.

_Why do they have so little furniture inside and way more outside?_

But thankfully, there was an umbrella attached to the table which made Lucy sighed in relief that she didn't have to stay out in the hot sun. After she settled down, a waitress approached her, attempting to get her order.

"I'll have a strawberry milkshake."

The waitress nodded and left. Lucy rested her head onto the palm of her left hand as she waited patiently for her drink. Unknown to her, there was a red-head sitting at the table behind her. They had their backs facing each other and both of them were unaware of each other's presence. That was only until he heard her ordering her drink. _Why does that voice sounds so familiar? _

He turned around and saw the woman's blonde hair tied into a high ponytail. _Was it that girl from yesterday? _He stood up, reaching his hand to touch her shoulder. He had never been this nervous towards a girl before. He could hear his heart beating faster and faster when each second passed by and he couldn't hear a thing other than the loud thumping of his heart echoing in his mind. _Dammit! Shut up, stupid heart!_

"Um…Excuse-"

Just as he was going to reach her shoulder to catch her attention, he was cut off by someone's yelling which made him jerked his hand back to his sides.

"Oi! You bastard from yesterday!" A guy said, holding a baseball bat with a group of people behind him.

The red-head looked turned to face the bastard who interrupted him. _Who the hell is he?_

In a second, memories of what happened last night came back. He slammed his fist onto the palm of his hand.

* * *

_I wonder whether I'll see her again._

As he was wandering about, daydreaming of his new encounter, he accidentally bumped into someone and didn't realize it until-

"Oi."

"OI," he said, louder and clearly annoyed.

"You bastard…"

He placed his right hand on the red-head's right shoulder and his left hand, formed into a fist was getting ready to punch the red-head in the face when he turned around. The red-head stopped in his tracks and turned around. As he turned around, from the corner of his eye, he noticed an incoming fist and realized it was going to collide with his face very _very _soon. Thanks to his fast reflexes, he avoided it at the last minute by ducking. After that, he stood up and looked at the man who failed to punch him with an annoyed expression.

"What was that for?"

"You bumped into me!"

"Oh, really? Sorry," the red-head apologized as he found out it was his fault and started walking away.

"You bastard!"

He proceeded to punch the red-head again and failed miserably. The red-head avoided it with ease as he predicted that he would punch him the same way like before.

"What? I said sorry already!"

But the man kept on trying to punch him. The red-head, sick of avoiding the punches, effortlessly hit him at the back part of the neck, which made him lose consciousness. He looked at the body below him and sighed before he started walking away.

* * *

_Oh! It's him and his…lackeys?_

Suddenly, he realized that he was near the blonde and thought it would endanger her. Lucy, not curious at whoever who was shouting, ignored it and didn't look back, completely uninterested. The red-head started running, worried that she might get injured. At the same time, the waitress placed Lucy's strawberry milkshake on the table and Lucy faced her and said, "Thank you."

Suddenly, Lucy felt something fast pass by her after she thanked the waitress. After a moment or two, she turned and looked in front of her but there wasn't anyone. She shrugged and started to drink her strawberry milkshake, ignoring the group of people who ran past her.

The red-head had run into a nearby alley to avoid the blonde from seeing him in his current state. He wouldn't want a bad first-or rather, second- impression. He was stuck, a dead-end. He turned around and in front of him was a group of people who were smirking. The red-head sighed and got ready to battle. He finished it in about ten minutes with ease and without magic. He sighed again as he looked at all the bodies sprawled everywhere around the alley. Suddenly, he remembered about the blonde. He instantly smiled as he headed out the alley to go meet her.

His smile immediately disappeared once he exited the alley. In the distance, he saw the empty cup on the table and no beautiful blonde there. He walked away and sighed.

_Maybe I'll see her again._

* * *

Lucy was browsing around the clothes shop after walking away from the café. She was looking for jeans that was to her liking for the Kitsuna's party. They were going to be quite a lot of elders there and she knew better than to wear shorts or mini-skirts. To her, it was showing respect to the elders from what she learned when she was young and in another way, it was a change of style for once.

_Hmmm… I don't really like tight jeans… Guess I'll get the baggy types!_

With that decided, she headed to the particular section and chose the jeans her size and to her liking. After trying it out, she bought it, seeing as it fit her perfectly. Looking at the jeans, she knew exactly what would match it.

* * *

It was already night when she returned to her apartment. She turned on the lights and walked towards her window to lock it. She had started locking it months ago, She settled down at her desk and started writing a letter to her parents about what had happened the night before and today. After she finished, she folded it properly and placed it with the other envelopes in her drawer. Then, she walked towards her kitchen to cook dinner. She took out a small piece of chicken and some vegetables from the fridge. Before she could cook it, she heard a tapping sound and could tell who it was immediately. She walked towards her window and unlocked it. It was none other than Happy.

"Lucyy~~"

Happy was the only one in Team Natsu that accompanied her from time to time. Sometimes, he would barge in and sleep with her or sometimes they would hang out around town.

Happy was hugging Lucy as if for dear life. Lucy laughed and said, "Yes?"

"I'm bored~"

"Don't you have Natsu?" Lucy asked with one eyebrow raised.

"He went with Lisanna for a job and won't be coming back for a few days!"

"Gray?"

"He went on a mission with Erza."

Lucy removed him from her waist and carried him so that they were eye-to-eye level. "You can hang out with me. I'm staying for a few more days before I go on another job."

Happy's eyes shone with happiness, "Really?"

Lucy laughed and nodded. "Why don't you go take a bath? I'm cooking dinner right now."

"Aye, sir! I want a fish just for me!" Happy said as he flew towards the bathroom.

Lucy smiled and headed back to the kitchen. She took out a fish and placed it next to her other raw ingredients. She started cooking the food while humming a tune. After twenty minutes, everything was ready and Happy was waiting patiently for his fish. While they were eating, Happy told her about the recent missions they've been going on and how Natsu and the others were.

"And we never realized that Gray stripped until the client pointed it out!" Lucy laughed along with Happy. "Then, Gray got knocked out by Erza so that he wouldn't strip and just sleep."

Lucy laughed and said, "That's just like what she did when Natsu was having motion sickness!"

They kept on talking about the team until Happy noticed the new scar that was healing on Lucy's hand. "Lucy, what is that?"

Lucy lifted her right hand and said, "Oh, this? It' just a scar. No biggie." Happy nodded and continued talking about the funny and cool parts of their recent mission with Lisanna. He didn't want to ask any more because he was afraid that it might hurt her feelings.

Soon, it was already late and while Lucy was washing the dishes, Happy was already asleep on her bed. She got ready her pajamas and entered the bathroom. She waited for her tub to be filled with warm water and while doing so, she decided to brush her teeth. After a few moments, she soaked herself in the warm water and her thoughts were filled with Natsu and Lisanna.

_I wonder whether they're together yet._

Everyone knew their feelings for each other and always told both of them to admit it. But, Lisanna was too shy and so was Natsu, or so she heard. But now that they were out _alone _doing a mission together, she wondered whether either of them will take the chance and ask each other out. She liked Natsu, but not in a romantic way. She viewed him as a best friend all the time and wanted what was best for him.

_Maybe Lisanna can actually cure his denseness bit by bit._

She chuckled and got out of the tub. She wore her pajamas and looked at Happy. She carefully carried him and used her other hand to remove the blanket from the spot where Happy slept. Gently, she lay him down and covered the Exceed with the blanket. She walked towards the opened window and closed it, making sure it was locked. Then, she slipped into bed, facing Happy. She stroked him slowly with her hand and when Happy responded to it by snuggling closer, she was sure he wasn't asleep.

"I miss going on missions with you, Lucy," Happy said with his eyes closed. When Lucy didn't respond, he continued, "You should come with us sometime…"

Lucy smiled and said, "Go to sleep, Happy."

"Song…" Happy muttered, not bothering to open his eyes.

Lucy closed her eyes and started humming a tune. It had become something like a habit to do so whenever Happy slept with her. While humming, she stroked his fur and it reminded her of the first time she hummed to him. The first night Happy came to sleep over alone, he told Lucy what had happened in the previous mission. He was caught off guard and Natsu took the attack for him. After the mission, Natsu had recovered in a week and Happy was with him the whole time. Lucy was listening to every word Happy was saying. Happy felt guilty even though Natsu said it wasn't his fault. Soon, Happy fell asleep and so did Lucy. But the sleep didn't last long for Lucy, she was woken when something next to her kept on kept muttering words and started attacking the air. Lucy looked next to her. Happy was thrashing around, muttering words which she couldn't catch. Lucy immediately grabbed Happy and hugged him while saying comforting words. At first, Happy still struggled but after a while, he calmed down and was back to sleeping. When she placed him back in bed, she stroked him and started humming a tune like how her mother used to when she had nightmares, figuring that it might help. Lucy continued this action for quite long time and forcing herself to stay awake in case Happy had a nightmare again. She started getting sleepy after a while but still stayed awake. And did she made the right choice. The nightmare came back a few more times and Lucy had to calm him down. The next night was the same, but it was the last. Lucy thought Happy never knew what she did. But he did. Even though it was a nightmare for a moment, Happy felt warm inside once he heard comforting words echo in his mind.

"_It's alright…"_

"_It's going to be fine, you're going to be fine…"_

"_Don't worry…"_

And he felt safe, safe in the hands of who was hugging him. That was the first, and it wasn't the last. The nightmare had come back another few more times like a curse but so did the comforting voice and warmth he felt. Even though he had no idea who was hugging him, who was saying those words, he felt safe. When he woke up the next day, Lucy was already up. He could see bags under her eyes and then it hit him. The one who accompanied him the whole night was Lucy. He was sure of the fact and decided not to ask anything. Somehow, that day, he felt like Lucy was being kinder than usual and was more attentive as well. When he unexpectedly shouted something, Lucy immediately reacted and the look on her face was full of concern and worry. After he told her that it was a joke, not only that she didn't pinch his cheeks like she'd usually do, she sighed in relief. Happy pretended not to know that she helped him and left after eating lunch. He wanted Lucy to have some rest. But that night, he woke up from the nightmare shortly after he slept. Natsu was snoring loudly and Happy decided to go to Lucy. It was the already late and when he was outside her apartment, he saw her writing something. He knocked on the window and she let him in. While Lucy continued writing, Happy tried to sleep. He couldn't sleep and kept shifting his sleeping position. Lucy, worried that he was afraid, kept her novel and slipped into bed. She stroked his fur and hummed a tune which made Happy fall asleep. What happened the previous night, happened again. The same nightmare, the same comforting words and the same warmth he felt. He woke up to see Lucy, again, with baggy eyes.

He always viewed Lucy as his mother. Lucy always let him sleep on her lap during train rides and Lucy always gave him fish just the way he like it whenever he stopped by for dinner or lunch. His love for her grew greater after what had happened. From then on, after Lisanna and the whole team came back from a mission, Happy would sometimes spend time with her and tell her about their recent missions. His nightmare never came back after the second night. After the second night, before he goes to sleep, he always remembers Lucy's soft and gentle voice and her comforting words and it chased the nightmares away.


	5. 2 Days Later

Note : Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews. For everyone wondering who Red-head here is, answers will be given along the story which MIGHT come in the later chapters or the next few chapters. I'm guessing-I don't really have to guess- that you all know the pairing by now right? I won't change it. By the way, I might not be able to update for the next few weeks… I'm gonna be out travelling. Anyways, announcements like this will always be at my profile. Thanks and enjoy.

* * *

She looked at the clock after placing her change of clothes on her bed. It was already late afternoon, which means she has to go over to Kitsuna-obasan's house. She was bringing Happy with him and was wondering whether she should get him something to eat before going over or not. After a few moments of careful consideration, she decided to cook Happy a fish, seeing as there were two left and she wanted to go on another job.

"Happy, you use the shower first. When you come out, your fish will be ready," Lucy said, heading to her kitchen.

"Aye! Also, Lucy… Can I have two?" Happy said, popping his head from the entry to the kitchen.

"No," Lucy said as she put both her hands on her hips. "And if you don't bath right now, you won't be getting any at all."

After hearing those words, Happy flew to the bathroom after saying 'Aye!'. Lucy smiled at Happy's behavior. Soon, the fish was ready and Happy was done as well. Lucy entered the bathroom with her clothes to change.

When she got out, she was asked, "Lucy, aren't you going to bath?"

"I'm going to bath after we come back. Are you sleeping here again tonight?"

"Aye!" Happy said, smiling widely.

Lucy was wearing a white collared shirt with buttons. She was also wearing a black tie, which suited the whole outfit. With her black jeans, white shirt and black tie, she looked smart and professional. She let her hair down, which made her look prettier. After they were ready, they went to Kitsuna's house.

* * *

It had been a few hours since Lucy and Happy arrived at Kitsuna's house. Lucy was talking to the elders while waiting for a chance to congratulate Kitsuna. She had been there for a few hours and hadn't talked to the person she needed to. Whenever she looked at Kitsuna, she was always talking to people and this made it hard for Lucy to approach her. After she finished talking to the elders, she looked around for Happy while sipping the drink in her hand. She found him fast and he was accompanying the baby who was laughing and smiling.

"So cute!" Lucy said as she approached the cot.

Lucy's appearance made her the focus of the baby. After a few moments of staring, the baby started to look around and Happy started making funny faces which made the baby laughed.

"Look, Lucy! He likes me!" Happy said as the baby laughed more.

Lucy laughed while looking at Happy who was enjoying his time with the baby. _Who could ever hate you, Happy?_ She turned around when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Cute, isn't he?"

"Kitsuna-obasan!" Lucy said, happy that she finally had a chance to talk to her. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you," she said. "I didn't see you in the market for the last few weeks. Going on a lot of mission lately, aren't you?"

"Yea. Actually, I'm deciding on going for another mission tomorrow, so I might not see you again anytime soon."

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard. You go on missions alone, right? If you keep going on like this, you'll never find a boyfriend!" Kitsuna said, concerned.

Lucy laughed and said, "Don't worry! I'll get him when I see the right one for me!"

Kitsuna was still worried. She thought that Lucy was working too hard and had no time in her life. She wanted to protest but decided not to and say, "Okay, if you say so."

* * *

Lucy was walking home with Happy was flying next to her, talking about the baby. "I'm a big brother now!"

Lucy laughed and said, "I'll take you to visit him next time."

"Really?" Lucy nodded. "Thank you!" Happy said as he hugged her.

Lucy managed to stay balanced, even though it surprised her. Lucy sighed in relief that she didn't fall.

Once they reached home, Lucy took a shower while Happy was already sleeping in bed. When she got out, she walked towards the bed and placed Happy under the blankets. Before she went to bed, she did her usual and wrote a letter to her parents. After that, she kept it in her bottom drawer, where all of the letters were kept. When she closed the drawer, she stared at the drawer on top of it. After a few moments, she opened and there it was. took out the drawing and held it up in front of her. She giggled as she remembered that night.

"_THANK YOU!"… "…for, er, waking me up?..."_

She put it back and slipped into bed. As she lay down, to her surprise, Happy was still awake and he called out to her. "Lucy?"

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Lucy said, shifting her position so that she was face-to-face with Happy.

"No. Are you going on a mission tomorrow?" Happy asked, sounding sleepy.

"Yea. But if Natsu's not back, I can stay," Lucy smiled. "If you want me to."

"No…Can I…" Happy didn't get to finish what he wanted to say. He already fell asleep.

Lucy wondered what he wanted to say. She figured to just ask him tomorrow and hoped she remembered to.

* * *

Happy immediately got up once he smelled the familiar scent of fish. He smiled and looked at the kitchen table. His fish was on a plate. Lucy was already in the shower. He guessed that she already ate and started eating his share of food. While eating, he remembered that he didn't get to finish asking his question last night. When Lucy got out, Happy immediately flew to her and their faces were inches away.

"Can I go on a job with you?"

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Don't you want to hang out with Natsu or Lisanna?"

"But I want to hang out with you for now!" Happy said as he hugged Lucy.

"I go alone on missions, you know? So it wouldn't be fun. You sure you want to follow?" Lucy questioned.

"Aye!" Happy said, not letting go from his hug.

Lucy sighed in defeat. She knew it wasn't fun being around her and didn't understand why Happy wanted to go on a job with her. She smiled and patted Happy's head, "Okay, you can follow."

"Aye!"

* * *

When they arrived at the guild, no attention was given. Happy kept on talking to Lucy more about the missions with Lisanna. Lucy listened carefully while paying attention to her surroundings. A lot of people were grouped at one spot which made Lucy wonder what was going on but decided to ignore it. On the way to the request board, she saw Levy, Juvia and Wendy heading towards her.

"Lu-chan! Welcome back!"

"Welcome back, Lucy-san."

"Welcome back, Lucy," Juvia said.

"I'm back," Lucy said while smiling.

"Lu-chan, do you know why they're crowding there?" Levy said while pointing to the group.

"No…Why?"

"There's a new member!" Levy said. "I wanted to see him but I couldn't go through the crowd."

Lucy's mouth was shaped into an 'o' while she nodded in understanding but didn't avert her gaze from the crowd.

"We're going on a mission now, do you want to come?" Levy asked which caught Lucy's attention back to her.

"I'll pass. I spent almost all my money this week and now I need more for the incoming rent," Lucy said as she sighed.

Levy looked disappointed but placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder and smiled. Lucy smiled back and as the three made their way out of the guild, Lucy said, "Have a safe trip!"

While she made her way to the request board, Master, who was sitting at the counter said, "Oh, Lucy? You're back. Welcome back."

"Thanks, Master," Lucy said, smiling.

"Have you met the new member?"

Lucy looked at the crowd of people and said, "No."

"Don't you want to?"

"He's in the same guild. I'm sure I'll be able to meet him sooner or later," Lucy said as she left for the request board.

"Hmmmm… What should I pick?" She wondered aloud.

_Something good but low pay._

Yes, she wanted something that was on low pay. If she went on a job which had a decent amount of pay, she'd have nothing to do for the next month! She could have accepted Levy's offer to go together but if she didn't feel like it.

_Oh god. Am I really getting used on going solo? _

She sighed and decided to go on a job with someone next time. She finally found a job to her liking. It said to defeat a few mages and save the hostage and the pay was 25, 000 Jewels. Lucy had to wonder why the pay was so low when it deserved higher pay. She shrugged off the thought since it met her conditions.

"Happy, we're going on this on," she said while showing it to Happy.

"Aye!"

After informing Mirajane about the job, Master said, "Have a safe trip!"

Lucy and Happy said their goodbyes and headed out of the guild.

* * *

The new guild member of Fairy Tail spotted a familiar hair color behind the crowd. He stood up immediately and looked at the direction of what he saw was familiar but it wasn't there anymore.

_Imagination?..._

Feeling a little- actually, very- disappointed he slumped back down in his seat and sighed loudly. His actions earlier surprised the people who were around him and it stopped their string of questions for a moments. Everyone stared as the new member sighed.

"You alright?" Someone asked.

"Yeah. I just thought I saw someone familiar," he replied, loud enough for everyone in the guild to hear.

_I think I'm going insane. God, I'm even imagining it already!_

After a second of pure silence, they string of questions came back like a hurricane from every direction around him.

"What's your magic?"

"How old are you?"

"Are you strong?"

He couldn't even find a second to answer anything except when they all asked for his name. At the bar, Makarov was laughing at how his children were 'welcoming' the new member and Mirajane was wondering who that familiar someone was. She thought carefully, 'By the time he stood up, Lucy and Happy were already out of the guild. Is it Lucy? Or maybe Happy's blue fur reminded him of someone? Something tells me love is near!'

Mirajane giggled as she made a mental note to interrogate the new member about the newfound romance.


	6. (Second) The Mission With Happy Part 1

Note : …Hello… I'm sorry for not updating for two months. I really am! But I've been busy with school and my part-time job, and… my laziness. Hey, but better than nothing, right…? But this week is a holiday and there's a few more days so I'm probably gonna do another chapter. Maybe. You know. I read all my chapter again and realized there were some minor mistakes. *Face-palm. Can't believe I missed it. Anyways, I didn't check this so there's probably some mistake somewhere in here. So sorry for the late delay again! Enjoy!

* * *

Lucy was already at the train station sitting down on a bench while waiting for Happy. She came immediately after eating her lunch, forgetting that she was _not _on a solo mission this time. She sighed and slumped back while hugging her luggage. She would probably have to wait an hour or two for Happy. _God, why am I getting used to going on solo missions? _

Her eyes widened when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She stood up and looked around.

"LUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCYYYYYYYYYY!"

Happy was expecting to be enveloped by a nice warm hug when he found Lucy, but instead of that, his head collided with something really hard and unwelcoming. He rubbed his head which had a bump on it and whined how painful it was. Lucy was giggling at Happy's cute antics. She placed her luggage down and opened her arms wide so that Happy could hug her. Seeing the welcoming gesture, Happy immediately hugged her while saying, "Luucccyyy, it hurrttsss."

Lucy laughed and said, "Sorry, sorry. I didn't expect that."

She stroked Happy's head gently and carried him like a baby with her hands.

"Princess, shall I get your luggage?" Virgo said, as she suddenly appeared beside Lucy.

"Sure. Thanks, Virgo."

Lucy was accustomed to having her spirits pass through their gate without her summoning ever since Team Natsu started to forget her. Her spirits would come by and take care of her while she had a hangover. Making sure she ate, took a shower and not doing things that she would regret.

As Happy snuggled in Lucy's embrace, she entered the train with Virgo. Once they settled down, Virgo bowed a little while saying, "Princess, I shall take my leave now."

"Alright. Thanks, Virgo," Lucy said while smiling to her.

The train manager's voice making an announcement made her look up. "Attention all passengers. Please be seated immediately as we are departing from Magnolia in a few minutes and we will reach Sunny Town in seven hours. Thank you for your attention."

"Luucccyyy..." Happy said, trying to stay awake so he could talk to her.

She smiled and placed him on her lap. She shushed him gently just like how a mother would and said, "Go to sleep, Happy. It's going to be a long ride."

Happy hummed a little before succumbing to sleep, mumbling some words that Lucy couldn't pick up.

Lucy yawned as she exited the train station, while Happy was flying next to her. She looked around the town which was lit up by lamp posts. Some shops were starting to close, while others were still open. As she walked further, she could feel vibrations from the ground. She stopped walking and looked ahead. She saw what she assumed was a bar in the distance, which was rather big. She could hear distant shouting and cursing from the bar and wore a sceptical expression. _I wonder if Fairy Tail's as noisy as this. No. I'm sure they're way noisier. _

"Lucy, Lucy!" Happy said as he flew in front of her.

"Hmm?"

"I'm hungryyyyy~! Let's go eat dinner!" Happy said and laid down on top of Lucy's head.

Lucy giggled and said, "Sure."

* * *

They entered a restaurant and Lucy noted surprisingly that there were a lot of couples rather than families eating together. They sat down on a table just for two, by the window. A waitress approached them and passed Lucy a menu with a friendly smile, in which Lucy returned with a small smile.

"Woah! This is awesome, Lucy! It's so thick!" Happy said, while looking at the menu in Lucy's hand.

Lucy laughed and said, "It's only thick because of the cover. See? The cover's so thick!"

She used her index finger and thumb to measure the thickness and brought her two fingers in front of Happy to show how thick it was. Happy closed his eyes while noddding as he crossed his hands, trying to look like someone wise deep in thought.

"I see. The cover is thick, making the menu thick," Happy said and nodded. He opened his eyes and slammed his fist against his other hand and continued, "Thus! The conclusion is that the menu is thick!"

Lucy laughed at Happy's conclusion. Happy then flew to Lucy's side to see the menu with her as she opened it.

"Lucy! Lucy! I want fish!" Happy said excitedly.

"Hmm. How about this steamed fish?" Lucy said while pointing at the picture in the menu.

"Mm!"

Lucy read through the menu and already decided what she wanted to order. As she flipped through, she saw a mini menu and started reading it. The title, 'Couple's Dinner' was decorated with red and pink hearts around it and it was only available for a week. She read the message in a decorative box. It said that to order the special dinner, only couples could do so. She sighed as she realized that she couldn't order that delicious dinner because she was alone. Well, she was with a _cat, _but she was sure that to order the dinner, it was required to be with a _human _partner. The pictures of the food looked much more delicious and it was cheaper than the food she ordered.

"Lucy? What is that?"

"Hmm? Oh, this?" Lucy confirmed by pointing to the mini menu. She continued as Happy nodded, "It's nothing. Just some special food and stuff."

Happy looked at the pictures on the paper and his eyes shone with happiness. He pointed the picture while showing it to Lucy, and said excitedly, "Whoa! This fish looks delicious, Lucy!"

"Yes, yes. But it's only for couples, Happy."

"Ehhhh? But... It looks so nice..." Happy complained as he flew back to his seat, looking dejected.

Lucy called for the waitress and decided to ask whether she could order the special dinner.

"May I have your order, Miss?" The waitress said, holding a pen and paper.

"I was wondering whether I could order this 'Couple's Dinner'? See, I'm here with Happy," she said as she pointed to Happy who said 'Aye!' when the waitress looked at him.

"I'm very sorry, Miss, But cats don't count."

"I see... Then I'll have this and this," Lucy said as she pointed to what she wanted in the menu. She continued after the waitress asked for beverages and took the menu back, "Watermelon juice and strawberry milkshake."

A few minutes after the waitress left, Happy blurted out, "Too bad Natsu and the others weren't here. We could've ordered the delicious looking fish."

Lucy frowned and rested her head onto the palm of her right hand, letting her gaze linger on the cutlery on the table. _Anyone _would have known that she was sad. Happy noticed and quickly scolded himself silently. When he was about to change the topic, Lucy said, "Yeah."

Lucy looked at Happy with an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry we couldn't get you that fish."

Happy panicked a little and was rummaging his brain for something more delicious. A thought suddenly hit him and he exclaimed, "It's okay! The fish that Lucy cooks are the best!"

Surprised, she asked, "Really?"

Happy nodded happily and said, "I'm sure the fish would be honoured to be cooked by Lucy!"

She smiled and said, "Thanks."

_What a considerate little cat._

* * *

After dinner, which was quite late, they visited the Mayor of the town. The Mayor, probably around his thirties, briefed them on what had happened a few days ago, while he had someone to call the client.

"They're insane! After capturing Meiko, they slaughtered half the farmer's animals! What the hell is wrong with those people?!"

They were interrupted when a man, which Lucy assumed was the client, barged in, shouting, "Help's here?! Finally! Thank-"

Before the man could finish his sentence, the Mayor interrupted while gesturing to the seat beside Lucy, "Kawamitsu-san, please.

"This mage here, is Lucy from Fairy Tail, and her companion, Happy," Lucy bowed a little and waved while Happy said 'Aye!' as the Mayor introduced them.

"H-Hello. My name is Kawamitsu Yukio. I-I'm sorry for my rudeness earlier."

"No, it's okay," Lucy said as she put both her hands in front of her. "Anyways, Kawamitsu-san, it's quite late already and I don't want to disturb you so would you mind telling me what happened and how they looked like?"

Kawamitsu nodded and said, "I was working late that night and when I came home, it was about midnight. I think they followed me to my home, but... I don't know... I'm not sure... I guess I was too tired to even notice it."

Lucy placed her hand on his shoulder and gently said, "It's okay, Kawamitsu-san. Take your time."

He nodded and continued, "When I checked my daughter, Meiko, she was sleeping in her room. So I was getting ready to take a shower but..." A few drops of tears escaped from his eyes and Lucy kept quiet, so did Happy.

"I – I heard a scream! Meiko was screaming for me! And – and when I got to her room, she wasn't there! Then I went downstairs and saw – saw a man carrying her and putting his hand over her mouth! Th – There were another two mages..."

Lucy had questions on her mind, but she didn't want to interrupt her client. After all, she was sure it took a great amount of effort to talk about a kidnapping of his daughter, where he was left helpless.

"I – I ran down and tried so hard to punch them but then the big one grabbed me by the head with his hand an – and said some words and made me _weak. _Then he dropped me and I just couldn't – couldn't _move _properly. Whe – When I tried to get up, I ju – just fell back down."

After a while, he didn't continue and tears started coming out of his eyes. The Mayor handed him a tissue and said comforting words to him. He looked at Lucy and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, but I think I'll ask tomorrow. Is it okay with you, Kawamitsu-san?"

He nodded and Lucy bowed a little to the Mayor before taking her leave.

* * *

"Lucy, are you going somewhere?" Happy asked as Lucy took out a set of clothes which didn't look like pyjamas.

"Hmm? I'm just gonna run some laps around the inn. You can go to sleep first, Happy," Lucy said as she walked to the bathroom.

"Run?" Happy asked as he tilted his head to the side. "Why would you run in the middle of the night? There's no one chasing us."

Lucy's laughed could be heard from the bathroom door. She came out with her usual hooded singlet and mid-thigh pants. She smiled at Happy and patted his head.

"Training," was all she answered.

Happy was confused. He asked, "Train? Why? You're already so strong."

"Maybe. But not strong enough for me."

"That's not true," Happy paused as a thought struck him. "I never knew that you were training, Lucy."

Lucy smiled at him while doing her stretches. She said, "Don't worry, Happy. You're the first few who know that I train."

Happy smiled a little, happy to know that he was one of the few who knew how Lucy was doing. However, that smile didn't last long and he said, "That's not the point, Lucy. You're strong."

Lucy hummed a little and closed her eyes, as if thinking. She said, "Okay then, Master Happy. I am strong Lucy ready to protect you."

Happy giggled a little and Lucy continued, "Even _if _I'm _strong, _then there's no harm in getting stronger, right?"

"But… I'll be lonely when you leave…"

"Hey, don't worry! We have a few days to hang out together!"

"But…"

Lucy smiled and walked towards Happy. Happy waited. Lucy carried him like a baby and laid him under the blanket. He didn't retort. He always welcomed love and care from Lucy. Lucy's smile was full of warmth, kindness and sincerity. She hummed a song and stayed by Happy's side till he fell asleep. Soon, Happy fell fast asleep and Lucy left the room after switching the lights off.

* * *

She had been jogging at an average pace for 37 minutes straight, as was what Virgo had recorded with a timer. She placed her hands on her knees while bending slightly, breathing fast.

"Congratulations, Princess," Virgo said as she clapped her hands twice. Seeing that Lucy couldn't answer her because she was trying to catch her breath, she continued, "You have passed the previous record of 36 minutes and 45 seconds."

Virgo handed Lucy a towel to wipe off the sweat on her body. Lucy stood up, now breathing normally, faced Virgo and accepted the towel, muttering a soft 'Thanks'.

Virgo bowed a little and said, "Princess, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave now."

Lucy looked at her with a grateful smile and said, "Yeah. Thanks, Virgo."

Virgo smiled and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lucy sat down on a small step, just in front of the inn's back door. She looked up at the dark blue sky. She could see the moon so clearly that staring at it for so long made her close her eyes due to the brightness. She looked up again, only to find that what she saw a moment ago was no longer there.

_Only to shine so bright for a moment. _

Lucy stood up and smiled while closing her eyes. She stood under the dark sky and started to turn right gracefully, her hands following her movements perfectly. She continued, but not for long as her right foot collided into the other. She sighed in relief, thankful that she was able to regain her balance before falling to the dirty ground.

_And to be enveloped by darkness immediately._

Lucy smiled and walked back to her room to shower and sleep. As she walked back, she placed her index finger on her chin and thought about what she thought about the moon.

_It's a good line for my book, isn't it?_

* * *

Note : I am sorry if you think that it's kinda rushed. If there's anything that you don't understand, feel free to PM me or leave a review! I welcome anything.


	7. (Second) The Mission With Happy Part 2

Note : Sigh. I wanted to finish the mission in only two chapters but I guess I'll do it in three. Sorry, the mission might not be interesting but I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading!

* * *

"Princess, it's morning," Virgo said as she leaned in towards Lucy. Lucy opened her eyes lazily and looked at Virgo. "Are you planning on running today?"

Lucy stared at Virgo for a while, thinking whether she should run a few laps before breakfast. However, it didn't take long as she slowly sat up, careful not to wake Happy. She didn't move from her spot and turned her head to look over her right shoulder to see Happy sleeping peacefully. She stood up and stretched her arms as Virgo moved to the side to make way for her.

"Sure. Why not?" She said as she changed. She continued, "Wouldn't want to waste my time slacking off, right?"

Virgo followed her out of the room and through the back door. The weather was cloudy, making it the best time to go for a run. While Lucy started stretching, Virgo said, "Princess, I hope that you don't overwork yourself."

Lucy looked at her, confused, and said, "I'm not and I won't. Don't worry!"

Virgo didn't look convinced but let the matter go nonetheless.

"Virgo."

"Punishment, princess?"

"Er, no," Lucy said. She smiled at Virgo and continued, "I'm just gonna run for a few rounds, so you can go back first."

"Then I shall take my leave now," Virgo said as she bowed down.

"Mm! I'll see you later, Virgo!" Lucy said as she waved.

* * *

Lucy entered the room quietly and checked whether Happy was still asleep. As she was walking towards the bed, she says quietly, "Happy...?"

She got no answer and saw Happy sleeping. She smiled and squatted down so that she was on the same eye-level as him. Happy was mumbling about fishes in his sleep! She sighed. _This cat is all about fishes!_

She stood up and was about to walk to the shower when she heard Happy calling out a name, "Natsuu... Wait ... for me..."

Lucy looked at Happy and tried to visualize the dream. She placed her index finger onto her chin and tilted her head a little to the side. She imagined Natsu running to an inn while Happy was flying behind him, trying to catch. She smiled. She added Gray to the picture who was shouting about why a certain hot head was trying to reach the inn first when he had no money to pay for the room. She held in her laugh when she imagined Natsu getting ticked off. She could just imagine the scene as if it was right in front of her.

_"Who you calling hot-head, huh, you perverted stripper?" Natsu said as his forehead collided with Gray's._

_ "You, duh. Who else would I be calling hot-head, squinty eyes?" Gray said as he crossed his arms._

_ "You wanna fight, ice brain?" Natsu said while holding a hand with fire surrounding it._

She smiled as she walked towards the bathroom. She kept on imagining the situation while she bathed. She hummed a song with her eyes closed. She could just imagine Erza turning back to check on them and the two would put their hands around each other while saying 'Aye!' and saying how well their friendship was. She stopped humming as she couldn't help but giggle at the next scene. Those two would just return to fighting after Erza stopped watching them.

Lucy dried herself with a towel and wore her clothes. She wore a white sleeveless blouse and a comfortable knee-length pants. She smiled as she remembered where she had bought this set of clothes. _Felitsa Town. _She tied her hair into a high ponytail and exited the bathroom. She saw Happy, still sleeping, on the bed. She didn't want to wake Happy so she sat down and watched television after putting on her keys and whip.

* * *

_God. This is so boring. _

She yawned loudly and didn't bother to cover her mouth. It had been an hour already and that cat still wasn't awake. She stood up and decided to wake Happy up. The shops should have opened already, right? She walked to the bed and sat on it while looking at Happy.

_Should I or should I not? Should I or-_

Her stomach gave out a soft growl and she proceeded to wake Happy up.

"Happy, wake up."

Happy stirred to the other side, mumbling about sleeping for another five more minutes. Lucy sighed and immediately gave up. It was their _first _mission together after Lisanna came back and because she had a change of routine when she went solo, of course, one would have to take a long time to get used to her unusual schedule.

"Fine. I'll go eat breakfast and meet Kawamitsu-san. After that, I'll come back, okay?"

Happy immediately opened his eyes and said, "Wait! I don't want to be alone."

Lucy shook her head like she was dealing with a child. She said with a smile, "Alright. Now go take a shower while I wait for you."

"Aye!"

As soon as Happy left for the bathroom, Loke appeared and greeted Lucy.

"Hello, Lucy. It's nice to see you again."

"Hey, Loke. Same to you."

"I heard from Virgo that you broke your record by 15 seconds," Loke said as they sat down. Lucy just nodded and smiled. He continued, "Congratulations then."

"Thanks," Lucy said, not sounding proud. She felt as if that she didn't earn the right to be congratulated.

"Lucy," Loke said as he looked at her seriously. He continued, "Improving by 15 seconds is a very good job."

She gave him a smile with a hint of sadness, "I know, Loke. Thanks."

"Lucy… This can improve your speed, don't forget that. You're getting stronger every day."

This time, Lucy smiled. _Better than not improving at all, right? _"Thanks, Loke."

Loke smiled and stood up. He said, "Okay. If you ever want to train your melee combat again, you can call me anytime."

Lucy laughed and said, "Soon, Loke. Don't worry, I'll never forget you."

Loke wore a pained expression and said dramatically, "And if you ever did! My heart would break into so many pieces!"

They both laughed until Loke said, "See you, Lucy."

"Mm! See you!" She said as she waved farewell.

A few moments later, Happy came out of the bathroom and immediately hugged Lucy tightly. When Lucy asked Happy what was wrong, he just said that he did it on a whim. But in truth, he felt like he would lose her if he didn't hold on to her tightly. When he woke up, he couldn't remember what his dream was, but then he remembered when he was bathing.

He was standing side by side with Natsu and in front of them were Erza, Gray and Lisanna. They were smiling at Natsu and him. But somehow, Happy felt like he was forgetting _something _or _someone_. He looked front, they were smiling so happily and it was so welcoming. Was it just his imagination? But, imagination or not, he wanted to turn behind to make sure nothing or no one got left behind. Before he could, he saw Natsu running to them and said, "Natsu! Wait for me!"

He flew to Natsu, Erza, Gray and Lisanna. They were all about to leave, to move forward, but then Happy stopped in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice.

_"It's okay. They just want to spend more time with her."_

He turned around and his eyes widened. He saw Lucy's pained smiled before she turned around. Facing Lucy's back, her head was turned a bit to the left, allowing her to see her friends over her shoulder.

He immediately flew to her and was about to say something when she beat him to it.

"It's okay."

What he saw made him mutter shakily, "Lucy…"

Her figure was disappearing. It was turning to ashes from her toe till her head. He flew to her as fast as he could but the last thing he saw was a lone tear coming out of her eye before she disappeared into nothing.

That was why he hugged her. He didn't want her to disappear. He didn't want her to be alone. She was his mother. Lucy had no idea why Happy hugged her so unexpectedly and just shrugged it off. She returned the hug and patted his head.

* * *

After breakfast, they went to visit the Mayor to talk to Kawamitsu. But when they arrived, that Mayor asked someone to lead them to Kawamistu's house because he was busy. On their way to his house, Lucy thought back to her conversation with the Mayor she had yesterday.

_"He came to me immediately after Meiko got kidnapped. Then he explained what happened to me… quite… unclearly… so you might as well hear what happened from his own mouth. Well, couldn't blame him, could I? The man lost his kid."_

_ "Yeah. I agree."_

_ "Where's his wife?" Happy asked, while flying around the office._

_ "She died a few years ago due to cancer. But don't worry about that, he's gotten over it already."_

_ "I see."_

_ "After he told me what happened, he settled down for a bit. Then, the next morning the local farmer just barged in and shouted that his animals got slaughtered! Well, only half of them."_

_ "What?" Lucy said disbelievingly. "Half? Can you give me a number?"_

_ "Let's say around… 20."_

_ "Twenty…? That's a lot. I can't believe it. Who would do such a thing?" Lucy said while shaking her head._

_ "I found something rather strange though. The neighbours didn't even know about Meiko's kidnapping until after they asked where she was! I guess that it's got something to do with their magic. Otherwise, I don't have any other logical way that my brain can think of."_

_ "Yeah. I'm guessing that they can cast some sort of sound barrier." Lucy said as she held a fist to her chin._

_ "I think it's rather… dangerous. I don't mean to offend you, but are you sure that you'll be alright? I mean, if you got caught, and if they had a sound barrier, we won't be able to help you unless another mage comes."_

_ Lucy laughed and said, "No, it's okay. I'll be fine! Plus, I'm a celestial spirit mage, which means that my spirits can help me if I get caught!" Her smile faltered a little as a thought hit her. "…I hope they don't have any magic restraining items…" She said softly._

_ "It's okay! If that happens, I'll protect you, Lucy!" Happy said as he smiled widely. Lucy and the Mayor laughed. _

They reached Kawamitsu's house and Lucy noted that it was a detached two-story house and there were fences surrounding it. She looked at the neighbouring houses. It looked pretty much the same and between each house was a gap of around five metres.

Lucy knocked on the door and said, "Kawamitsu-san! Are you home? This is Lucy and Happy!"

Soon, they were greeted by Kawamitsu and were welcomed in. Happy flew around the house and Lucy could hear him 'Awesome!' and 'Wow!' from the living room.

She smiled and apologized to Kawamitsu, "I'm sorry, Kawamitsu-san. Happy's just excited. He's like a young kid."

Kawamitsu smiled and said, "No, it's okay."

Lucy looked around the living room. On tables, pictures of a family consisting of a mother, father and a young daughter were displayed. She smiled as her gaze lingered to pictures hung onto the wall. Some were family photos and some were drawings drawn by, what Lucy guessed, a six-year-old.

"Erm, about your daughter…?"

"O – Oh. The Mayor told me that…You had some questions…?"

"Erm, yea," Lucy said, making sure she didn't sound inconsiderate. "After what you told me yesterday, they left and you went to the Mayor immediately?"

She continued when he nodded, "Alright. All I have to know now is how they look like."

"I – I don't know," he said. When Lucy wore a look of confusion, he continued, "I – I mean, they were wearing masks, except for one. Only two of them were."

"Masks? Like masks as in decorated ones that cover the whole face except they eyes? Or the one that shows the –" Lucy paused for a while before continuing. "I'm sorry. What kind of masks?"

"No, It's okay. Erm, they were just wearing black cloths that were covering their whole face except their eyes. But there was one big guy, the one w – who grabbed my head… He was wearing a singlet, while t – the others wore a cloak, and he's bald. He has a scar right here," Kawamitsu said as he used his index finger to draw an imaginary line from the middle of his forehead and stopped until he reached above his eye.

"I see. Thanks for the info. I don't really want to disturb you anymore so we'll just go now."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, Kawamitsu-san. I haven't saved your daughter yet," Lucy said as she walked towards the door.

"Bye bye!" Happy said as he waved farewell.

* * *

Lucy put on a black leather glove on her right hand and lifted it up to see how it looked on her hand, ignoring Happy's constant whine. She smiled and wore the other one on her left hand. She went to the cashier and paid for it. They walked outside and Lucy noted that there weren't many people around. There were like less than 10 people around!

"Lucyyyy, I don't understand. We spent the _whole _day exploring town! Shouldn't we be saving –" Happy was interrupted when Lucy placed her right hand's index finger on his mouth.

She held her left hand's index finger to her own lips and winked while saying, "Shh. Don't worry, alright? I know what I'm doing."

"Then tell me!"

Lucy laughed and said, "Alright, listen properly, okay?" She walked towards a place where many people and looked at Happy with a serious face. "This plan depends mostly on you so you have to be careful and listen properly." She continued when Happy nodded, "Loke."

Loke appeared not more than 3 seconds later, wearing an expression that clearly said – "Lucy, please tell me we are _not _going to do _that _plan again."

Lucy just gave a knowing smile that obviously said yes and Happy asked, confused, "What plan?"

"I'll go in the bar and see whether the bald guy is there or not. If he isn't, I'll come out immediately but if he is, I'll pretend to get myself drunk and have him carry me home. You both will follow us and once we reached where they're hiding, we'll fight. But of course, you have to make sure Meiko's safe as well."

Happy looked shocked. Loke sighed and said, "Lucy, that plan worked the last time but I'm not sure about this time." When Lucy gave him a puzzling look, he continued, "If they have any magic restraining items, what will you do? You, and Meiko will be in danger."

Lucy smiled and said, "I thought of that too. But that's why Happy's here, isn't it?"

Loke sighed again and shook his head while mumbling something about not being able to change someone's mind. Happy said, "What if… I fail?"

"Happy, Loke and I trust you. So why shouldn't you trust yourself?"

"But… This is dangerous and –"

"Where's the fun when there's no dangerous? Plus, I trust you guys. If I can't make it, I'm sure you will help me. And, you, Loke, can be the white knight in shining armour," Lucy said which made Loke and Happy smile.

"Lucy, this will be the _last _time. Do you understand?" Loke said while gripping Lucy's shoulders.

"Yes, yes father," she replied teasingly in which made Loke smile.

* * *

It had already been about probably half an hour already and Loke was sitting with Happy on a seat near the entrance, his back facing whoever who exited the bar. Lucy was sitting in the middle, carrying on her act as she tried to make her target notice her. Lucy downed the remaining of her drink in a gulp. She slammed the cup back down on the wooden counter and furrowed her eyebrows. She wore a pained expression as she mumbled, "Screw 'im. I hate him. That bastard."

The bartender grabbed the empty glass which was on the counter and washed it. He looked at Lucy and smile as he wiped it with a cloth. He said, "Sounds like you had a bad day. Mind telling me?"

Lucy stared at him for a moment, as if trying to figure out whether she should trust him or not. She finally snorted and said, "Came here with my guy a week ago. Only in two days, that damned bastard just _found _some kind of _special _girl and wanted to break up!" The bartender just kept collecting the empty cups on the table to wash them and when a customer ordered, he'd make the drink while ignoring or listening to Lucy's complaints, even she didn't know. "Just screw him. Screw that bastard. Who did he think I was? Just some kind of girl he could leave after he was satisfied?" She said. Slamming her cup again, she screamed, "Screw that bastard!"

The bartender had already stopped listening, thinking that it was too troublesome listening to the sorrows and anger of a crazy drunk blonde. From the corner of her eye, she saw him giving someone out of her range of sight a suggesting look and used his thumb to point to her. _Damn, please don't let it be someone stranger. Bald guy, bald guy, let it be the baldie…!_

If what she saw was correct, someone should be approaching her now. She resisted the urge to look at Loke and Happy. If only she had telepathy powers.

"Hey, beautiful."

_Bingo. _"Hey, handsome."

The target was wearing a _wig. _Messy brown hair which Lucy admitted looked perfectly well on him. He wore a singlet and had a scar like how Kawamitsu had described. She inwardly smiled. He looked rather muscular and handsome, whether the scar made him look less or more attractive, she didn't know. He looked at her empty cup and signalled for two drinks. They drank cup after cup and talked, although most of the talking was done by Lucy complaining about her imaginary boyfriend.

* * *

Lucy laughed aloud as she leaned onto the man in a drunken manner.

"I've always wondered but who would even dump such a beautiful lady?"

"Always wondered?" Lucy laughed after saying so. "My handsome man, you make it sound like you've known me all my life!"

The man laughed. "Is a few hours not long enough?"

Loke grimaced as he watched the exchange. He was metres away from them, acting as a nearly drunk man while he carried a bottle by its handle while Happy was flying behind them, high in the air to make sure he wouldn't get noticed. He sighed as he continued watching Lucy and took a drink from his bottle. Why did he even agree to this plan in the first place?

Happy wore a worried expression as he looked down. How Lucy did her missions compared to Team Natsu was very different. Had she been using these types of tactic ever since she left? He frowned. Somehow, he felt like he didn't know Lucy anymore, only from the aspect of mission handling of course. He concentrated back to the two below him. Loke was starting to slow down and was getting further from Lucy and the target. Were they nearing the hideout?

* * *

Lucy fell back to a couch nearby and looked around. She said, "My, oh my, handsome man. A lovely house, like its owner. I can't believe you live alone in such a big house!"

She received a laugh. The man said, "I don't live alone. Another two lives here. But don't worry. One's probably sleeping like a log in his room while another's working at the bar for the whole night."

"At the bar?" Lucy asked, disbelief obvious in her voice. "That bartender?"

The man nodded. As the man moved closer to her, she held out a finger in front of him and moved it left and right. She said, "No, no, no. Shower first, big man."

"Alright. Wait for me," he said as he took off his clothes on his way to the bathroom.

Once he was out of earshot, she sighed. She heard the water running and immediately got out of the house and stood at the entrance. She stood there for a moment and waited for Loke to appear. Soon, Loke and Happy walked from behind a tree and stood in front of Lucy. Lucy said, "We don't have much time. Probably one or two minutes from now. Loke, have you found out where she is?"

"There's a shack behind. Follow me," Loke said as he ran there, followed by Happy and Lucy. As they ran, he continued, "There's a trap door heading down and I heard someone crying. I'm guessing that it's Meiko."

They reached the shack and Loke and Happy went down. Lucy opened the wooden door a little to look up at the house and saw nothing but light. No movement, which meant that he was probably still bathing. At least, that was what she hoped. She closed the door and sighed as she leaned back onto the wooden wall. She looked at the small trap door that was opened and walked closer. She squatted down and said, "Loke, Happy, have you found her yet?"

"Yea!"

Loke and Happy looked at Meiko with a look of disbelief. Her hands were spread out and chains were holding her onto the wall. Her head was hung down and even though the place was dimly lit by a bulb, they could clearly see the pain done to her. Her white one piece dress was stained with blood. Anyone could have seen that the injuries on her arms were done by a whip.

Loke approached the girl and shook her to wake her up while Happy searched around for a key. She couldn't be dead, could she?

"Meiko… Meiko, wake up."

Happy found a key which was on a hook nearby and said, "Loke, I found the key!"

Loke looked at where Happy found the key. He glared and said, "They must be really confident if they just placed the key right there."

As Happy unlocked the chains, Loke stared at Meiko pitifully. She must have suffered so much, knowing that she couldn't reach for the key which was just two metres in front of her. The weak girl stirred and looked up at Loke. He wore a smile and said, "We're here to help you. You're safe now, don't worry."

She opened her mouth to say something but no sound came out as she fell unconscious. Loke grimaced.

After unlocking the chains, Loke carried Meiko bridal style. Happy asked, "Loke, is she okay?"

"Not now. But I'll ask Virgo to take care of her injuries later."

Once they climbed up and met up with Lucy, Lucy looked at Meiko with a pained expression. She turned to Loke with a serious face and said, "Loke, we probably have a few more seconds till he finds us."

Happy said, "What do we do now?"

Lucy looked at Happy and said, "Virgo will take care of her injuries."

Loke continued, "And we'll fight."

They got out of the shack and Lucy summoned Virgo. She told Virgo to take care of Meiko's injuries and protect her while the three of them would deal with the mages.

"Happy, did you search the whole house?"

Happy nodded and said, "Aye. I saw someone sleeping inside a room. I think it's the other mage but I couldn't find the other one. There's supposed to be three, right?"

"Yeah. Good job, Happy," Lucy said with a smile. "So two out of three is in this house and the other is in town. I know where the other one is. Baldie told me that his friend works as a bartender."

"That explains why the bartender recommended you to him," Loke said.

"Yeah. And he's working all night today."

"Perfect."

"Happy, you'll be fighting together with me," Lucy said with a smile.

Happy smiled and shouted, "Aye!"

Lucy looked up and saw someone moving from the curtain. That 'someone' removed his curtains and looked down. _Hello, baldie._ Said person scowled as he saw Lucy and her team with Meiko. Lucy gave a smile and waved so innocently. He gave a last look of anger before disappearing from her view.


	8. (Second) The Mission With Happy Part 3

Note : Thanks, I appreciate your thoughts a lot. Again, I'm sorry for not updating for so long. It's just, well, I had some kind of problems on what to write so…yea. This chapter's mostly about the fight though… Maybe you guys won't like it that much. And! I only went through the first half of the story, so I guess the other half's gonna have some mistakes. Anyways, I shall try my best to update regularly! Enjoy!

* * *

They were lucky that their enemies lived quite far from town. If not, who knows what kind of damage might be done to the town. The thought of the cost made Lucy shudder inwardly. She thought it was a weird location for a house, but perfect for people who didn't want anyone interfering with their plans. Just a plain, two-storey house in the middle of the isolated place, surrounded by the plain, brown ground, and if someone wanted to go to town, it would take at least 8 to 10 minutes.

Lucy and Loke were facing back-to-back, each of them facing their own opponents while Happy flew beside Lucy. They were in their battle stance, ready to fight their opponent. Lucy was facing the baldie whose wig was now gone, and Lucy had to fight the urge to taunt him. Loke was facing a young man who had light brown hair and was wearing dark blue slacks and a collared sleeveless shirt which was light blue.

Lucy placed her hand abover her whip when the man in front of her moved, ready to use it when necessary.

"Hey, hey. Chill, girl," he said as he put his hands in front of him. "It isn't what you think."

Before he could say any further, Lucy interrupted him, "Save it, baldie." She watched in amusement as the man in front of her glared at her and clenched his fists, obviously displeased by the given nickname. "Oh? Sensitive to words,_ baldie_?"

The man pretended that he didn't hear her and continued on. Inwardly, he scoffed. All the girls who had big busts always played hard-to-get."I don't understand. What happened? We were all good and –"

Lucy interrupted him again by putting her index finger in front of her. "I'm sorry. Did you not hear me? I said, save it." She straightened her back and rested her hand by her side. She took out her gloves, starting from her left and right. She put it in her pocket of her knee-length pants and brought up her right hand. She pointed to her Fairy Tail mark and said, "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard. And I came to save the innocent girl you captured, scumbag."

The baldie didn't reply but he widened his eyes and immediately took his battle stance. Lucy gave a smile close to being a smirk. He probably figured out that if she was a mage, and from Fairy Tail, he wouldn't be able to cover it anymore. They were about to engage in their fight when Loke stopped her. Not leaving his eyes from the enemy, he said, "Lucy, swap with me. I want to fight him."

Lucy looked at him for a moment, puzzled. She decided that she would save the questions for later and said, "Sure."

They turned slowly, careful not to let the enemy break their formation. While they turned, Lucy took a glance from her enemy to her surroundings. She saw Virgo treating the unconscious girl by the house and felt relieved that Meiko was being protected by Virgo.

She snapped her attention back at her enemy who moved his left hand to take something from his back pocket of his pants. While doing so, he smiled and said, "Hey, pretty. Nice to meet ya'. Name's Ron." He revealed a deck of cards and started shuffling it with his hands. "Lucy, right?"

"Yea."

Happy shouted, "How did you know?!"

Ron chuckled. "The ginger-head said it just now, did he not?"

"O-oh."

While shuffling, he asked, "So, cat, what's your name?"

Happy looked at Ron suspiciously, wondering if it was alright to reveal his name. But it was just his name, so he thought it didn't really matter. "Happy."

"Happy? What a name."

Although Happy didn't realize that Ron was mocking him, Lucy did. "Yes, it is. Only scumbags wouldn't appreciate the name."

Ron narrowed his eyes and after a moment, he knelt down on one knee. With half the deck on each hand, he placed his hands onto the ground and muttered something that Lucy couldn't catch. Then, they were engulfed in a bright flash.

Lucy blinked and she noticed that she was somehow in a different spot. She took a glance behind her shoulder and saw Loke and the baldie fighting quite far from them, creating mini mists from the ground with their attacks and movements. She looked back at Ron who smiled again.

Lucy kept quiet but looked at him, her face clearly stating that she wanted an explanation. Happy shouted, "What did you do?!"

He put both decks together and held it in his right hand. "It's as you see it. Teleportation. Wouldn't want their fight to interrupt ours, no?"

With that said, his smile turned into a mischievous smirk as Lucy and Happy took their battle stance.

"Ready or not, here I come."

* * *

Loke was pushed backwards as his hands that were brought up to protect himself received impact from the baldie's blow. _Damn. _He had been distracted when there was a flash behind him and had looked back, worried that Lucy might be in danger. Expecting to see Lucy nearby, he was shocked when he had saw Lucy and her enemy quite a distance from her former position. He instantly knew the reason, teleportation.

"Now, now. Shouldn't be looking away from the opponent, should you?" He asked, smirking as if proud that he managed to push Loke back. Loke ignored his opponent's smirk and scowled at him. He knew that the baldie was underestimating him because of their size in body built, and he didn't like it at all.

He jumped at the bald man, preparing his right fist to lay a punch on him. In that split second, the baldie brought his both his hands to the side of his face, attempting to protect himself from the incoming blow, but Loke already expected that move. Instead of punching the said man, he grabbed the hands that were protecting his face as support to push himself slightly up so that he could lay a blow on his head. He used his left hand's fist to punch the hairless head and fell back to the ground, regaining his footing with ease. The baldie staggered back a few steps and had a hand on his head.

"What? Can't take just _one _hit on the head? Guess all that muscle on your body's just for display, huh," Loke said mockingly.

Although he couldn't stop himself from stopping his head from moving left and right, he glared at Loke and decided to use his rings. He took out a few rings from his pocket and slid two of them onto his index finger and the other on his ring finger. He flowed magic into the ring on his fourth finger and his dizziness slowly subsided.

Loke took his battle stance. "You don't seem dizzy anymore. Regeneration ring?" He scoffed at how the baldie needed rings to enhance his magic and condition.

"Yea. And do you know what these do?" He said as he showed the back of his right hand to Loke. Without waiting for a reply, he flowed magic into the two rings on his index finger and a sharp spike came out from each ring. Loke didn't say anything and waited for the man to continue. "These spikes here, they have poison. Just a little bit, and you're a goner."

Great. Now Loke needed to avoid those damn spikes and had to abort the idea of punching the guy in front of him continuously till his face was unrecognizable. Outwardly, Loke grimaced, tricking the baldie into thinking that he would be greatly affected but inwardly, he smirked at the stupidity of his opponent. He was a spirit and thus, he would not die but if he had any contact with the poison, he would have to rest in the Celestial World for a few hours and that meant that he wouldn't be able to help Lucy.

Loke lunged forwards and punched the baldie's stomach. However, he didn't seem too affected when he regained his footing. Loke scowled, he had to do something to fight against the regeneration ring. Although the said ring couldn't do much, it would still pose as trouble as he wanted to end his fight as soon as possible, but not without punishing the baldie for good, to go to Lucy and help. He wanted to finish it fast.

The baldie aimed a punch at Loke with his right hand but Loke dodged it, cautious of the poison spikes on his ring. Suddenly, he was punched on the other cheek with the baldie's left hand. Recovering from his shocked state quickly, he jumped back a little to create some distance. The baldie faked a punch with his right and punched with his left. He ignored the sting on his cheek and lunged forward.

Loke kicked the man hard in the shin and managed to make the baldie's footing imbalanced. He immediately took his chance and was about to kick the man's side until the baldie took hold of his leg. The baldie held the leg with his left hand and readied his right hand's elbow to deliver the blow. In that split second, Loke saw the stance and his eyes widened. That baldie was trying to break his leg! Before the baldie could deliver the blow, Loke used the baldie's hold on his left leg as support and jumped. Fortunately, the baldie didn't loosen or let go of his grip on Loke's leg and Loke managed to kick his opponent's head.

His kick made him and the baldie exchange places and now, Loke was facing the back of the man. He kicked the back part of the baldie's knee, instantly making him fall on one knee. Loke was about to deliver the finishing blow to the back of the man's head when the man suddenly ducked and rolled over. He stood up and glared at Loke, silently grateful that he made a quick decision to create distance between them. If he hadn't, who knows what might have happened to him.

* * *

Lucy and Happy avoided the burning liquid being spat out by the two monstrous plants beside her opponent. Silently, she felt grateful it wasn't acid. Ron was in between of the plants and was smirking at the 'dance' Lucy was doing. Honestly, he couldn't really care much about the cat. After all, to him, it was _only_ a useless, flying cat.

Lucy knelt on one leg, her gaze locked on the two plants. Wherever she landed, that stupid plant would just shoot at her! While avoiding the shots of the plants, she examined and analysed the situation. She realized, after each plant shot five shots, they would rest for three seconds before shooting another five. However, she found a problem. There was supposed to be a three second gap between the shooting of the plants but when Plant A finished firing, Plant B still had a shot left. That meant she only had an interval of only two seconds.

If she jumped over the plant, it wouldn't be of any use. She needed to be able to _move _in the air. She called out, "Happy! Bring me up!"

Happy turned to look at her and shouted, "Aye!"

It took a while for Happy to reach Lucy, as they were separated from the continuous attacks from the plant. Up in the air, Lucy and Happy dodged the shots now doubled since they were together. With Happy doing all the dodging now, she had time to think. The stems of the stupid plants were soft and flexible, enabling it to turn a 360 degree turn, so she guessed attacking the plant would be useless. Her gaze locked on Ron's figure. She'd have to attack him instead.

"Happy," she called out. "If we use your Max Speed, how long will we take to reach that guy?"

Happy hummed for a moment. "We're quite far so maybe one and a half second?"

Lucy placed her fingers on her chin thoughtfully and grimaced. If the time taken for Happy's Max Speed was really that long then it would be quite a risk. She wouldn't want Happy or herself to get burned from that burning liquid.

She asked, "Happy, do you feel the magic he's emitting?" When Happy replied with a 'yeah', she continued, "Maybe, if we just trip him or attack him just for a moment, the plants will disappear. Because, he summoned it with his cards right?"

"Yeah. So if we just disturb his magic, the plants will disappear?"

"Mm. And he's also wearing a ring meant to enhance your magic slightly. It means he isn't that powerful."

"Oh! I get it now!"

Despite the situation, she smiled. "I'll do something about it with my whip. After that, we'll take our position behind him and fight. Got it?"

"Mm!"

"Alright! Let's go, Happy!"

She realised it was a risk, not such a big one, but still a risk. If the whole thing failed, not only she'd put herself and Happy in front of the enemy but in between the stupid plants as well. She was sure that if that happened, no doubt she and Happy would get scalded terribly. However, she'd do what she had to do if that happened. She'd protect Happy at all costs, even if it meant that she had to get scalded from head to toe.

She took out her whip and held it in her right hand, ready to go anytime. She didn't want to alert Ron by inserting magic into the whip just yet.

_Well, here goes nothing._

"Max Speed!"

* * *

After a few good exchanges of fist collision for a few long minutes, Loke guessed, their fight was nearing its end, and his opponent probably guessed it too. The baldie aimed a punch at Loke but was stopped as Loke held the baldie's fist in a firm grip. Realizing that Loke's grip was too strong for him to free himself from, he decided to use his free right hand to punch Loke, thinking that his guard was down.

Loke dodged the incoming fist but the spikes on the ring grazed his cheek. He silently cursed at his carelessness. He staggered back a little, creating some distance between them. The baldie smirked and said, "Well, you should be having some difficulties standing soon."

_Soon. _That meant that there was still time to make the baldie fall to the ground. He needed to know how long he had. "Oh, really? I don't even feel a thing. What venomous poison you've got there."

The baldie snorted, successfully falling for Loke's taunt, although he knew that Loke would probably be down soon. "Keep on talking. In a few minutes or even seconds, you'll be down and dead, and I won't ever have to see your hideous face again."

_I guess that makes it less than a minute. I need to do this fast. _"Hideous? You'll regret calling my handsome face that."

The baldie snorted again, thinking it would be useless to fight against Loke seriously. So he took everything Loke said lightly. He probably chose not to listen to the talk of someone who'd be dead in a few minutes.

Seeing as the baldie's guard was down, Loke immediately took the chance to lunge at him. He kicked the man's shin hard and made him stumble back. While he regained his footing, Loke didn't waste time to wait. He launched another attack and punched the man's jaw. The man staggered back and placed his hand on his head, as if it could help rid the dizziness. Loke immediately made a move again, not wanting to waste time when the baldie was under the effect of the dizziness, perfectly knowing that the baldie would recover from it fast.

He jumped high, a little above the baldie's head and elbowed him on the hairless head.

* * *

The moment Happy said those words, she waited for half a second, which felt like almost immediately to her, and flowed her magic into her whip. Her eyes focused on Ron's figure and she somehow noted how everything around her suddenly became a blur. All was blur except what she was staring at, Ron. She saw Ron bringing a card in front of him and he said some words. Her alert increased. What did he do?

It could be a distraction, or not. At least, she hoped it was a distraction. It was better than a new attack. However, she couldn't let it distract her. When she finished calculating the distance between herself and Ron, she lashed out her whip and grabbed Ron's leg with it. She pulled immediately, hoping that Ron would fall.

He didn't. Instead, he smirked, his hand still holding the one card.

_Oh no._

She pulled again with more force, harder and stronger. Still, he did not fall. She looked up for a moment and saw him smirking. Something was wrong. _Something _was supporting Ron's feet, holding his feet onto the ground firmly.

"Happy! Don't go at him! Go over him!" She shouted, not wanting Happy to get into any harm.

"Aye!"

Lucy and Happy flew over him and Happy dropped her unintentionally. He collapsed to the ground as well, but still conscious. Lucy turned and looked at the plants. They already started throwing the damned liquid again. She saw two coming her way and immediately grabbed Happy while running. She managed to avoid the first one completely but the other, just barely. She felt the burning sensation on the back of her shin and wanted to fall to the ground and look at her wound. However, she restrained herself from doing so and avoided shouting. Happy was out of magic power, she guessed. She ran while carrying Happy in her arms protectively and started to analyse what was happening. Something was holding Ron onto the ground firmly, she knew that.

She looked at Ron's feet and saw green roots holding onto his ankles. She scowled at him. She thought of a way to bring him down and she remembered what Loke had told her when he trained her in combat.

"_Humans all have one same weakness. The jaw. If you hit it, it'll make your opponent dizzy. You can try punching yourself to try it."_

That time, she really did punch herself to try it but she didn't punch that hard. Who would punch themselves hard, anyway? When she couldn't feel the dizziness, she had punched herself again, but with more force and it made her dizzy.

_The jaw. Aim it, Lucy._

"Lucy…" She looked down at Happy for a moment and said, "Yea? You alright?"

She held him in as she rolled over and regained her balance when her free hand was on the ground and she was on a knee.

"I'm sorry. I still can help… I just need… to rest for a while…"

He didn't lose consciousness but rested in her arms, breathing heavily. Guilt was consuming him. He had wanted to help, but he proved to be utterly useless in the battle.

"It's alright, Happy. Rest. Don't push yourself," she said while using the time interval of the shooting to rest. "Get your energy back soon, alright?"

Happy smiled. She always had a way of chasing away all the negative feelings.

"I'm sorry, Happy. Do you have enough energy to hold yourself on my shoulder?"

Happy nodded and Lucy placed him on her shoulder carefully. Lucy saw Ron take out another card and summon whatever it was. Using the chance and ignoring the stupid plants beside him, she ran full speed towards Ron and brought her right fist up, read to punch him with all she got. She felt Happy's hold on her tightened and inwardly felt relieved. If the hold was strong she wouldn't have to worry about Happy dropping to the ground.

She felt a splash on her left side and ignored the burning sensation. Her eyes narrowed in pain when she felt her left hip burn. She gathered all her might in her fist and saw Ron's eyes widened. She felt her arm and a small part of her cheek burn on her right, and simply ignored it. She was placing all her hope in that one punch to get those plants to disappear.

"… _A very hard punch to the jaw can even make them pass out…"_

She stared at him on the ground unmoving. The plants had already disappeared so it meant that she was correct. The magic Ron was emitting was to supply it to the plants. If the process is disturbed, the summoned things would disappear. She hoped her punch was hard enough to knock him out.

"Is he dead?" Happy asked, with the tone similar of an inquisitive child.

Lucy giggled. "No, he's not. But I'm not sure whether he's conscious or not."

"I think he is. Your kicks and punches hurts a lot, you know?"

She looked at Happy sceptically. "I highly doubt so," she said as she turned her head to look at the still unmoving mage on the ground.

* * *

Loke knelt down on one knee, facing the unmoving man. After confirming that the baldie was unconscious, he took out all of his rings and stood up. He kept the regeneration ring and dropped the two other rings which had spikes in them. He stomped onto them until they were nothing but bits and pieces of what used to be a ring. He placed the ring into his pocket and when he was about to walk to where Lucy was, his legs suddenly felt weak and he fell to the ground.

He silently cursed for not being able to help Lucy, knowing that the poison was now taking effect. Before he disappeared to recover in the Spirit World, he muttered, "I'm leaving Lucy to you, Virgo."

* * *

Lucy walked nearer to the unmoving mage, almost certain that he was unconscious and somewhere in his wonderland with plants. When she was about to kneel down, she felt something grab her ankle and she looked down. A hand had grabbed her leg, and she immediately recognized it as Ron's. Who else could it belong to?

She felt the hand pulled her and made her fall to the ground. Thankfully, Happy didn't and got some of his magic back earlier.

"Lucy!"

When Ron and Lucy sat up, Ron immediately jumped on her and placed his hands around her neck to strangle her. He had her pinned to the ground and had completely forgotten about Happy, his mind busy with the thoughts of finishing Lucy off.

Happy narrowed his eyes at Ron and shouted, "Don't hurt her!"

He lunged towards Ron head first and head-butted him. That, for sure, knocked him out. Lucy sat up and placed a hand around her neck, as she coughed. Once she was breathing normally again, she looked at Happy was now on the ground, walking like a really drunk person.

She giggled. "Thanks, Happy."

"N-n-no p-problem, Luuuucyy," he said as he tried to overcome his dizziness.

Lucy giggled and cradled Happy in her arms. She asked him whether they should get Ron's cards and give them to Cana as a present. Happy agreed, saying that Cana would love it. She saw someone on the ground not far from her and guessed that Loke had won the fight, seeing as the person on the ground wasn't wearing a suit.

"I guess that makes two. Two down, one to go. I guess I'll leave it to Virgo."

* * *

Lucy and Happy were lying down on their bed, with Lucy's back facing Happy. They had already turned in the three mages, with Virgo helping them with the last one, and left Meiko in the mayor's responsibility. When the mayor wanted to pay her the reward immediately, Lucy told the mayor that they would collect their reward the next morning, as she was quite tired and wanted some rest.

Happy needed to get his rest but he couldn't sleep. The day's events were still in his mind and he couldn't help feeling useless. When he felt shifting on the bed, he looked to the side and saw Lucy looking at him with her big brown chocolate eyes. She asked him why he couldn't sleep and Happy instinctively confessed everything. He couldn't help feeling how he couldn't even help in the fight with Ron.

Lucy only smiled and combed Happy's fur lovingly. "If you hadn't knocked him out, he'd strangle me to death. You were great help, Happy. Have more confident in yourself."

Happy didn't say anything, and Lucy was very sure that he was still feeling useless. "Fine. Since you said that you didn't really help, then you have to come with me some other time to make up for it, alright?"

"Aye!" Happy said excitedly. He had always wanted to spend more time with Lucy and whenever he wanted to ask her to go on a mission together, she'd already went on a mission, alone. The thought of going on a mission alone always made his heart drop. He didn't really understand. Who could stand being alone?

* * *

A/N : Yes! Finally done! Woohoo! I'm sorry if it was too long. I actually didn't want to make it long but I really really wanted to finish it in three chapters. But tell me, do you guys prefer short chapters or long ones? I wanted to ask, do you guys want a continuation of the mission? Like the fourth part? It'll be short though. Or do you want a new _new _chapter?


	9. (Second) The Mission With Happy Part 4

Note : I'm sorry that it took so long. I'm still writing it actually. This is just an extra for anyone who wanted a fourth part of The Mission With Happy. Thank you for the reviews. Next chapter's coming soon.

* * *

Extra : No Man Is An Island

Lucy turned to look into the dark cell where a bald man lied sleeping on the floor not far from Ron who was leaning against the wall with his left hand resting on his one brought up knee. He had his eyes closed, and Lucy guessed that it was just his sleeping posture. She looked back at Happy sleeping on the chair opposite of her murmuring something about fish and Natsu.

After Lucy had collected her payment from the mayor, she inquired the mayor of the mages that they caught and found out that they were in a prison, guarded. The mayor had been up all night, which explained his tired manner in everything he did, and so were the guards. They had informed the Council immediately after the capture, and had awaited their arrival since then, although the Council had already informed him that they would arrive seven hours later. Six and half had passed.

Happy and Lucy had volunteered to take over the watch duty of the guards, seeing as they had had breakfast and there was still time before the train to Magnolia arrived. She and Happy had received many thanks from the sleepy guards as well as the mayor for relieving the poor guards as well.

She didn't take note of the time, but guessed that there was still around seven more minutes. She yawned and stretched her hands, looking forward to the end of her watch.

"How much time passed already?"

Lucy jumped a little, surprised at the sudden sound other than the soft murmuring of Happy. Nevertheless, she answered that nearly seven hours passed and silence fell again. She fidgeted, uncomfortable with the silence and was thankful that she was out of sight from the prisoners. However, after much thinking, she found nothing to say and gave up trying to start up a conversation.

"When are we going to be taken?"

He managed to surprise her once more, but she couldn't be more thankful.

"Soon. Five minutes, maybe?" Lucy shrugged, as though she was talking to him face-to-face. She said again, "I thought you were asleep."

"Yeah. Well, I tried. The only one who'd be able to sleep in this kind of place would be this big ass over here."

Lucy couldn't help but giggle. She couldn't help but wonder something. "You're a pretty nice guy, you know. Why'd you do it?"

She heard a scoff.

He commented nothing but said, "Fairy Tail, right?" When she said nothing, he guessed that she was waiting for him to continue. After a few moments, he said, "I've heard of Fairy Tail. Noisy, disastrous mages tied together by the bond of friendship, family…"

He said no more and Lucy closed her eyes, her mouth slowly forming into a smile. "Yes, that is true. Fairy Tail is my family."

Before she could say any more, he said, "None of the mages go alone, putting aside the S-Class mages. _All _have at least a partner. So tell me, where's yours?"

Lucy stiffened. It was true that not many went solo, in fact, none at all. She panicked, but refused to show any sign of it. She said, her voice serious as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Who even said I was alone? I'm with a partner. And that partner is Happy."

"You're with _a _partner. He's your _temporary _partner."

She gritted her teeth. "Shut up. This conversation is over."

She turned her head to the staircase when she heard the faint sounds of footsteps of multiple people and patiently waited, not moving her gaze from the stairs. Slowly, from toe to head, revealed the Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit, Lahar, followed by five Rune Knights.

She stood up, and slightly bowed, but never taking her eyes off of him. Lahar stared at her with a calculating gaze and Lucy fought the urge to avert her eyes.

A few moments of silence passed before he said, "If I recalled correctly, you are the Celestial Mage from Fairy Tail who defeated Nirvana together with other guilds."

"Yes, that is correct," she said, keeping a blank face on.

"You used to work together with Erza Scarlet, Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster as well, yes?" He questioned again.

"Yes." When Lahar said nothing for a moment, she continued, "May I know how you had knowledge of this?"

"Natsu Dragneel and his team told me when I had questioned them after their mission."

"I see."

He walked pass Lucy and unlocked the cell. Three Rune Knights went in and got them up, and walked them out. As all of them got up the stairs, Lucy held Happy in her arms, not wanting to wake him up. When she got out, she saw the baldie already inside the car with a few Rune Knights. Ron was walking towards the van, but stopped when he saw Lucy.

With an evil smirk, he said, "This won't be the last you see of me. You better take care of _my _cards."

With that said, Lucy didn't budge or avert her eyes as he went in the van.

Lahar was the last one to enter the van. Lucy asked, "How long will they sentenced in prison?"

"Most probably five months. After they are released, the Council will make sure they do not abuse their magic."

"How?"

"You have no need to worry about that."

He started walking towards the van, and was about to enter but stopped and looked at Lucy with a stern gaze. "Don't be confused by whims. No mage is better alone."

Lucy wore a surprised look. There was tint of regret in his voice, but Lucy didn't ask of that matter. After all, who liked having their pasts brought up?

"I shall consider your advice," Lucy said as she bowed slightly.

Lahar looked like he was about to protest but he changed his mind and nodded to Lucy before entering the van.

Lucy walked back to the mayor's office to collect her bag that she left there with a frown on her face.

_"No mage is better alone."_

_ "This won't be the last you see of me."_


	10. A Week Later

Note : Hey. So, it's been a month, and I've written tons of different drafts. Well, here it is. Sorry for the long wait. And thank you all for reading this story. Oh, and I changed the summary and the picture! Actually, I didn't want to change the picture but I saw another story which had the same one so... so I changed it cause I didn't want my picture to be similar to other's. And for the summary, it's cause I don't really like it when stories are summarized that way. On with the story!

* * *

Ignoring all the cheers and happy greetings behind her, Lucy sipped her coffee, enjoying the sweet aroma and the taste of it in her mouth. She put her cup down and looked to the attention of the guild, Natsu and Lisanna.

_The new couple._

She gave a smile so small that one wouldn't be able to tell that it was a smile unless looked up close. Sighing sadly, she looked back down to her newspaper and continued reading it. She didn't know why, but she couldn't even care less for them.

It was as if they never mattered to her.

Not even a little.

_MAPLE VILLAGE OPENING SOON!_

There was that to worry about, but she could just push it away for a while.

_The Maple Leaf Village is planned to be opened four months from now, which would be during December._

After all, it was probably just a temporary feeling. She was sure of it.

_The soon-to-be mayor, Kyoumi, had contributed a large amount of finance which led to..._

There was the other problem of course. Getting a partner. It wasn't her idea, of course. Gajeel and Pantherlily had basically forced her to partner up with someone. She sighed again, only louder this time, and if anyone had even heard it, they would be able to tell that she was frustrated.

"_What? Just tell Levy that to stop worrying about me and that I'm doing fine!"_

_..._

"_Lucy, you've been going solo for five months! ..."_

_..._

"_No can do, Bunny Girl. You want her not to worry, or the others, or us even, get a partner."_

"_Even better, a team."_

_..._

"_Just try it, Lucy."_

Gajeel and Pantherlily had told her of the new member, Ea, who was looking for a partner. A _permanent _partner, in fact, according to Gajeel. She took a deep breath and took another sip of her coffee, only to find it rather cold, and grimaced.

Hot drinks were never good if they went cold.

She had to partner with this Ea guy, and _prove _to Gajeel and Pantherlily, and whoever else hat needed proving, that she was fine alone. All she needed was her spirits. It was all she ever needed anyway.

Still holding the cup in her hand, she finished it all in one mouth and walked to the request board, hoping to find a job which took a longer period of time.

* * *

Wearing a grey shirt and black jeans, he walked towards the bar and avoided whatever stuffs that were thrown his way, placing a hand on the hilt of his new sword which was hanging on his left hip.

He ordered a small cup of peppermint soda and when Mirajane passed it to him, she said, "Good luck finding that angel!"

He looked away quickly, embarrassed. Why did he even tell her about that night?

They had just barged in a few hours ago, hand-in-hand, and announced loudly and proudly that they were now, a couple. The party had been going on for so many hours that he just didn't feel like staying any longer. He wasn't discriminating them. Fairy Tail was a nice guild, a fun one at that, and a very easily excited one, but it was...just his preference type. He was fine with parties, but he didn't like staying at one for too long. Unless he had someone to talk to, of course.

It had been around a week since he joined, and he had gone for two small missions, just to find a suitable partner. Those who had partnered with him said that they enjoyed doing the jobs with him, but somehow, he just didn't feel the...'click'.

Honestly, he couldn't really put his own finger on it but he just knew that he needed to feel that little something that just made everything feel right.

Though, he had a problem.

He had never felt that 'click' before. So it made him wonder, how would that 'click' feel like?

As he sat down, he looked at the empty spot next to him. A neatly folded newspaper and an empty cup of coffee.

_Wow. Someone in Fairy Tail actually drinks coffee._

He thought of what Levy had told him a few days ago once he had told her that he was looking for a partner. She had told him about a Celestial Mage called Lucy, how she was kind and pretty, her hobbies, and kept on blabbering about her till the Metal Dragon Slayer – Gajeel, was it? – stopped her. Well, it wasn't like he was all ears anyway. How could someone just go on and on about someone else for more than an hour?

He finished his drink in one mouth and headed to the request board, looking around for someone who would bear to leave the party and go on a mission with him. His hopes weren't high, though. He knew that Fairy Tail could party non-stop for three days straight.

When he collided with something, he fell on his bottom and when he looked up, he saw a blonde hunching forward from the impact before she turned around, facing him.

_It's her._

Dressed in a white T-shirt with a cropped leather brown jacket and a three-quarter pants, she looked stunning, especially with her hair tied up into a high ponytail.

"I'm sorry. You alright?" She asked as she held out her hand.

Absentmindedly, he took her hand and got up. Part of him still couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Y-Yea. Thanks."

_The blonde angel._

They stood next to each other, and Lucy stared at him for a moment with a small smile for any sign of recognition. When she saw none, which was what she was fully expecting, she turned back to the request board and started to read each and every request paper.

He scratched the back of his head with his right hand, and said, "Erm, you're the one at the train station, right?"

Lucy looked at him with a smile and tilted her head slightly. "Yeah." She laughed. "I thought you didn't remember."

He laughed as well and said, "Well, I couldn't even if I want to. I mean, really, how could I forget?"

Lucy smiled and held out her hand, similar to how she did just a few minutes ago. "Lucy."

He gave a toothy grin, took her hand and shook it while saying, "Ea. Nice to meet you, Lucy."

"Ea?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah," he said unsurely. He did something similar to a scoff and asked, "What?"

"Oh, nothing." She waved her hand dismissively in front of her, and Ea couldn't help but notice the small bright pink spots that were on her cheek. She continued, "It's just that a friend of mine told me that you were finding a partner and he wanted me to try going on a job with you."

"Oh..." He stared at her for a moment, concentrating on the spots. "I don't mean to offend you, or anything, but what happened to your face?"

"What?" She followed his gaze and when she realized what he meant, she laughed. "Oh, this? It's nothing. I just got scalded a little during my mission last week."

"Oh. You alright?"

She smiled. "Yeah. It's going to heal in a week or so."

He hummed in understanding and said nothing else as he put his hands in his pocket and looked back at the request board. He saw Lucy's hand reaching out for a request paper when he heard a 'poof' behind him. He ignored it, however, and continued reading the requests but turned around, startled, when he heard a voice behind him.

"Princess."

"Virgo? What are you doing here?"

"We just want to remind you that your injury is still healing."

"Virgo, I'm fine," she said as she balanced her weight on her right leg and crossed her arms over her chest.

Virgo just stared at her, offering no answer, but Lucy knew what she was trying to say.

"Fine. I'll pick an easier job, alright?"

When Virgo still offered no answer, she said again, "A _very _easy one!"

"I strongly recommend resting, Princess."

"I won't push myself, don't worry. And I'll call you anytime I need help, alright?"

"Very well." While bowing slightly, she looked into Lucy's eyes and asked, "Punishment, Princess?"

Lucy gave a short sigh and gave a small smile while saying, "No punishment for you. I'll see you soon."

When Virgo was about to leave, Lucy added, "Thanks, Virgo. Tell the others I said thanks too."

Virgo gave a very small smile, one that was still a rarity for Lucy, and bowed again slightly. "It is our duty to protect our friend."

Despite needing to pick a mission that was extremely easy, she smiled as she continued looking. After a few moments, she noticed that Ea had not spoken a word since Virgo's arrival. When she turned to him, she saw him looking at her with a shocked expression. She gave an uncertain smile, fought back the urge to laugh at his face and asked him, "What?"

He blinked rapidly for a few times and looked away, embarrassed that he was staring at her for so long. She giggled at the blush on his face and waited for him to answer her question.

"Erm. It's just..." Nervously, he gave a smile and asked, "You're a princess?"

Lucy immediately laughed aloud, feeling so light-hearted all of a sudden. Was it because it had been such a long time since she had encountered someone who had thought that she was a princess?

Or was it because of this guy in front of her?

Ea looked at her, for a moment, mesmerized by the sound of her laugh, until she looked at him and said, "No. It's just that some of my spirits call me something else other than 'Lucy'."

He wanted to protest and ask whether she really wasn't a princess, but chose not to. He didn't want her to think of him as a guy who was just trying to pick her up. Especially as a first impression... but thinking back, he was pretty sure that that first impression was already ruined.

_"THANK YOU!"_

_ ..._

_ "For... er, waking me up?"_

Damn the train for making him sleepy!

He confirmed that she was a Celestial Mage, and when he saw her taking a request from the board, he immediately asked her if he could tag along in her mission. Sadly, she refused, reasoning that it was too easy to be in need of a partner. All his excuses failed and as she walked out, his shoulders slumped in dejection.

When Lucy reached the entrance of the guild, she turned around and looked around the guild. A smile was on her lips. She looked over at Gajeel and said a goodbye, knowing fully that he could hear her despite the distance. He saw Ea walking over to the bar with slumped shoulders and chuckled. Was he really that sad because he couldn't follow?

It reminded her of Natsu and Happy.

She frowned.

She walked out briskly, feeling the urge to get away from the place immediately. Slowly, she started to run.

He had been sitting at the bar for half an hour, reading the newspaper. He placed his soda down, after downing it. He was reading the last article of the newspaper and what he was reading caught his interest.

_SUNNY TOWN'S MAYOR EXPRESSES GRATITUDE_

_The case of a kidnapped daughter of Kawamitsu Yukio and the slaughter of about 20 animals had been solved, thanks to the Fairy Tail mages, Lucy and Happy. Sunny Town's Mayor, as well as the people of the town, felt utterly grateful for what these mages had done for them._

It took him a while to process that information and he read it again and again.

_Lucy? _

He muttered in a soft voice, "Wow."

_The two kidnappers were sent to prison by the Council's..._

_ ...sentenced for approximately four and a half months._

He scanned through the whole article, and felt a tad disappointed that nothing else was written about Lucy. He walked to the request board and took one which he was considering earlier. He made up his mind and walked out of the guild after informing Mirajane.

* * *

Chaoticharmonies, thank you for reading this cliché story. Honestly, whenever I read these types of stories where Lisanna and Team Natsu are the bad guys, I don't really like it. I was kind of worried that the spirits weren't in character. I mean, I re-read the first few chapters again and I felt nothing but embarrassment. It's hard for me to believe I actually wrote that.

KK, the fourth part was specially for you. I couldn't find anything to put in, actually. 'Cause I asked the question for the conclusion of The Mission With Happy. Thank you for answering my question and for the review.

Fairy Tail Fanatic 4EVER, while writing the chapters (The Mission With Happy) I had noticed the absence of Red-Head. Honestly, I really wanted to write him, but I didn't want to add him in any of the chapters of the mission. Those few chapters were revolving around Lucy and Happy, and I found no reason to put him in. I know I delayed his appearance for a long period and I'm sorry for that.


	11. Voluntary Work (Part 1)

Note : Hey. Back with the eleventh chapter! Erm, I know I said in the earlier notes that I'd insert Sting and Rogue in the story, but I don't think it's possible anymore. I mean, I will try, but it all depends on the way the story bends. So, sorry to whoever who wanted them to be in the story. Anyway, off to the original topic, I hope you like this chapter as much as I do. Enjoy, my dear readers!

* * *

_VOLUNTEER NEEDED! URGENT!_

Once he had read those three words, he just ripped it off the request board. Now, staring at the paper in his hand on the train, he wasn't sure if he should be regretting or not.

First of all, his work of the day was to help around with any casualties in a small village. He was fine with that, but apparently, there weren't any more details other than their urgent need of help, much to his dismay. Also, he had used up all his money he got from the previous missions to pay back his debt to Macao, and he was left his only some jewels enough for some cheap food.

When he had come to Magnolia, he hadn't expected to find a sword so perfect, and had immediately used his savings to buy it. After that, he borrowed some money from Macao, for all the expenses and such, and used the hard-earned money from two missions to pay him back the following week.

He sighed and ran his right hand through his hair, making it look even messier.

There was another problem too.

He fished out a small pouch from his pocket – he decided not to bring a backpack, considering that he had no money, he wouldn't be able to stay a night – and dropped the very few Jewels he had left onto his palm.

He looked up and sighed loudly.

_What have I done to deserve this, dear God!_

* * *

Using the trail in the forest leading to Crystal Shelter from the station, he arrived in half an hour at a leisure pace and his eyes widened as soon as he saw the village.

What he saw that very moment was not what he had expected.

People were scattered around, some mourning for their loved ones, some helping around and passing food. Even the people's houses were damaged. There were so many different kinds of damages that it was so obvious that this was a mage's doings.

_But do they know that?_

He would have preferred to investigate the matter, but there were more pressing matters to attend.

He heard the wailing of a child, chanting, "Mom! Dad!" over and over again. He looked to the left and saw a young child digging at the rubbles. He instantly headed there.

_What the hell happened here?_

He knelt down, and the boy just continued to wail. He looked at the rubble and saw a hand sticking out from under it. Immediately, he started off by pushing the giant piece of thing that was obviously the main obstacle and then, started to try to get whoever was in there, out.

He pulled the body out as carefully as he could, and it revealed to be a woman's body, lifeless. The child instantly wrapped his arms around his mother and wailed so mournfully that Ea felt his heart break.

Ea stood up abruptly, closing his eyes and clenching his fists. He couldn't bear to look at the scene anymore.

_They don't deserve this._

He searched around the house – was it possible for it to still be called a house? – for the father.

It felt weird. It was as if his ears were ringing and he could hear every sound in the world at the moment. The noises were everywhere. Wailing, screaming, shouts, orders. He walked on and jumped, even yelling in surprise when he felt something grab his ankle.

Still regaining his composure, he looked down and saw a man, whole body on the floor, the bottom part of his body trapped under a giant block of rubble.

He could not hear him when he said, "Help". There were too many noises around him, but he knew that he had to act. Immediately.

He started to get him off from under the rubble. He wanted to ask if he was okay, if he needed help, but it was all just a waste of breath. After all, the village attacked, houses destroyed, people killed. Who the hell could be _okay_?

He sat the man up, and said, "Wait here. I'll go get some help."

He ran pass the boy, still hugging his mother, and searched around frantically for someone – _anyone _– with a stretcher, or a first aid box – _anything at all. _

He saw someone, a girl in a maid's uniform with shoulder-length pink hair, carrying a first aid while retreating after treating a man's broken arm in front of a half-destroyed church. He ran to her and said, "Help. There's a man who's injured."

He led her to him and she started treating him immediately. As he watched her treat him, he accidentally said aloud his thought, "Lucy's here?"

Virgo didn't look away from the bandaging, and answered, "Yes. Princess is at the far end of the town, finding people who are injured."

"Oh. I see."

His heart fluttered at the thought of being able to see her again, but he knew he had to put the people's safety as priority over his selfish desires.

"Ea-san, don't worry about the people in this area. I have this area covered. The situation at the far end of the town is more serious," she said as she finished her bandaging and looked at him

"Really?" As the words sunk in, he said, shocked, "More serious? What do you mean more serious?"

"Ea-san, I cannot say anything at the moment. Princess had asked me to make sure everyone in this area is bandaged and taken care of. If you have any questions, please ask her directly," she said as she continued on to tell the news to the boy and help his mother.

He smiled a little, said his thanks to Virgo and walked very fast to the far end of the town.

As he walked further and further, the attacks seemed to have gotten worst, more serious.

He could smell a burnt smell somewhere, he could see houses turned into nothing but rubbles or even nothing at all. Some bodies lay scattered, burned and no longer recognizable.

He closed his eyes and stood at the spot, wondering what he should do. It was as if he was in a totally different area. It was so quiet, with no shouting and wailing, but just soft sobs.

He walked around, searching for anyone who seemed to be in need of help. He saw a woman, bandaged almost all over her body except her face, cuddling a baby while crying. He looked away and walked on.

_Was that baby dead?_

He saw a ginger-head and a man who had his hair braided to the back, making it look like the crab's pincers, carrying a stretcher. On that stretcher was a woman, clutching her stomach, her face in pain. The temporary bandage that was on her stomach was completely soaked with blood. Ea looked away and walked on, now much faster.

He heard moaning here and there after walked for a moment, and saw people bleeding, injured and dying. Then he saw a blonde treating them, one by one.

_Lucy._

He didn't approach her, seeing that she was so concentrated in her work. So, he turned somewhere else and approached the nearest injured person. He looked at what was left of the house. Just an arc with the door gone. He went under it, and saw a pair of legs shaking ever so slightly under rubbles, wood and metallic stuffs.

He immediately got everything off of the person, and when he did, what he saw shocked him. It was a girl who couldn't be more than twelve years of age, scalded terribly all over her body, and now that the weight on her was gone, she was shaking terribly.

He didn't know what to do. He moved his arms on top of the girl, wondering what to do, and tried carrying her bridal style but when he touched her, she made a sound like she was about to cry. So, he didn't touch her and the question kept echoing in his mind.

_What am I supposed to do?_

He looked at her eyes, her eyes so full of shock and pain. She was muttering something incoherently, and he neared his ear towards her mouth.

"H-Help m-me…" All he could catch were just a few words. "Ch-church…"

He asked, quickly, "Alright. I got you, I got you. Bring you to the church, am I right?"

He waited and waited. Second after second, and nothing. He was given no answer at all. He retreated and looked at her face, and saw her eyes still open, her mouth agape. Ea grimaced and closed her eyes, muttering, "Rest well."

He stood up and walked slowly towards the arc that stood there as if representing some kind of history legend. Had they done it on purpose? As _mockery? _

He shook his head._ I'm thinking too much._

He placed his hand onto the right side as he went under the arc. Suddenly, the arc crumbled down and bricks fell on top of his head. He immediately ducked down and put both his hands on his head.

"Ow!"

He moved left and right, muttering "Ow" over and over again.

He stood up and looked at his hand.

Blood.

He groaned. "Damn."

He tapped his fingers on his head again, and saw more blood on his hands. He sighed and he heard someone giggling in front of him. He looked up and saw Lucy holding a fist to her mouth while giggling.

"What? You're laughing at me?" He asked playfully.

She said between giggles, "I'm sorry."

After her laughing session, she walked towards him and told him to sit down. She looked at his wound and saw a cut. She took her first aid box Virgo had gave her by the strap and took out a bandage. As she placed the bandage on his head, she asked, "What are you doing here? Trying to help or giving me more work?"

He sighed and shook his head but Lucy hit him lightly on the head and said, "Don't move, you idiot."

"Actually, I don't know either. I mean, I came, like, ten minutes ago and all I see is people dying."

He saw Lucy frown. "Don't say that. People here aren't dying. They're recovering. Think on the bright side."

When Lucy finished her bandage work, she ruffled his hair and said, "There, all done. I don't think anyone would notice it since you hair's red too. So don't worry."

He looked away slightly, feeling light-hearted so suddenly. "I'm not worrying about that. Why would I even worry about that?"

She stood up and smiled as she crossed her arms over her chest with the first aid box slung over her shoulders.

"Well then, Ea, if you're not going to worry about that, lend me a helping hand. There's one last area I need to cover," she said as she held out her hand.

Ea smiled and took her hand gratefully. "Of course, Princess."

All she did was laugh.

* * *

Night had arrived when they reached the church. Lucy had summarized what had happened to him and she had said that she was spending the night at the church, where everyone, injured or not, would be resting.

"_If I finish covering the area when it's already night, I'll be sleeping at the church."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_You saw those attacks, didn't you? I'm going to investigate the attacks, maybe try to find a clue to who did this."_

"_I'll help you."_

The church was a big place, at least, big enough to fit almost everyone left of this town. The tall building now only consisted of the ground floor, its roof gone, and area cleared off of rubbles with Taurus' help.

Virgo and Loke were now by her side, ready to help anytime. After they had finished tending to the injured, Lucy asked them all to rest. She didn't settle down, however, although Ea did, and kept watch of the people's condition.

She could hear the sobs, the sniffles and the endless muttering. Virgo took her leave and Loke stayed back for a while, observing the people as well.

"Lucy," he whispered. "If you want to, you can ask Aries to cast her spell that makes people sleep. With very good dreams."

She looked at him, her face visible from the moonlight shining brightly just above them, and said, "There won't be any side effects, right?"

"I think we better ask Aries for that kind of question."

She walked out of the church, together with Loke, and summoned Aries.

"If I cast Wool Shot, the people affected will feel warm and relaxed, but if they feel a slight pain, they won't wake up. Only an injury which cause them a lot of pain will wake them up," she said and muttered a soft "Sorry" as she fidgeted shyly.

"So a little pain won't make them wake up? Not even move?"

She nodded.

Lucy touched her chin with her hand, and hummed. "I… I don't think I'll take that chance. Anyway, thanks Aries. I'll see you soon."

"Sorry!"

"So you're going to stay up all night?" Loke asked, concerned.

"I'll get a long sleep tomorrow when I go back in Magnolia, alright?" Lucy said as she walked towards the entrance of the church.

"No." Loke sped up and walked side-by-side with Lucy. "I'll stay here. And we both can take turns on watch."

"No thanks, Loke. Don't think I don't know what you're going to do. You're not going to wake me up and you'll stay on watch the whole night. You need your rest so go back. I'll be fine. Ea's here anyway."

Loke stopped Lucy from entering the church by putting his hand on the door. "Can he be trusted, Lucy?"

She said nothing for a moment. Then she said, "Every member in Fairy Tail is my family, you know that."

"But –"

"Loke, can we please stop talking about this? Go back and rest," she said, her voice soft and caring.

Loke did nothing but nodded. Before he left, he said, "If you ever need me, _any of us_, you know what to do. Don't let what Gajeel talked to you about affect you. Think about what you want."

Lucy smiled tenderly. "Thanks, Loke. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Lucy," he said as he returned the smile.

She placed her hand onto the church door, and took deep breaths. Before she entered, she summoned Lyra and after telling Lyra what she wanted her to do, they entered the church.

Lucy leaned against the wall, next to Ea who was lying down and then, Lyra played the harp, her beautiful voice loud but tender, in harmony with the sounds of the harp.

Lucy heard a soft shuffling noise and opened her eyes. She saw Ea looking at her, with his head placed on his arm as a pillow.

"It's not morning yet," Lucy said.

"Yea, I know. I also know it's time to sleep. You're not sleeping?"

She hesitated for a moment. "No, I am. I'm sleeping after Lyra finishes her song."

He hummed as a sign of understanding. Then, after a few moments, he sat up and settled down next to Lucy. "Then I'll wait with you."

She looked at him, and said, "I'm staying up. You sure you can handle tomorrow without any sleep?"

"Of course! I used to be a solo mage."

Lucy hummed in response and closed her eyes, relaxed while listening to Lyra's song.

* * *

Note : Did you like it? I wanted to stop at the point where they arrived at the church but I decided not to. Since I update new chapters inconsistently, I'd figured I'd write more. So, how do you think Ea's personality is like? Is there anything that confuses you?

Thank you, my lovely readers!


End file.
